Usually there’s a lot of work involved in making it look easy…

I remember being a Wood Badge participant like it was yesterday. I arrived at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship early. I was so excited to be there. My friend Ken was also a participant so I already had a friend there…

Everything was so cool! Gilwell Hall (the barn) was decked out in all things scouting – posters, flags, pictures... Staffers were dressed in the complete uniform and looked really sharp. The patrol areas were arranged. My Troop Guide, Scott was waiting to greet me with a friendly smile and a warm personality. I set up my tent (it was the second time I had done so – first time was in my living room as a practice) and met my fellow patrol mates as they arrived… The whole atmosphere of the entire two weekends was focused on us, the participants. In my mind as I drove away, I wondered if the barn was set up so nicely all the time if it was reserved just for Wood Badge and Scout training…

As a staffer, I found out the truth. That it took a full day to just get the site ready and that staff actually begin preparing for the course up to six months ahead of time – preparing presentations, planning for logistics, organizing every detail. The goal is in fact to be so prepared that the focus is on ensuring that the participants have an experience like no other – in Scouting or elsewhere. For new staffers, becoming entrenched in the syllabus along with the logistical preparations is key. The holes are filled in for those gaps that didn’t necessarily get connected when they were participants in planning for making those connections for the next wave of participants.

I was talking with my friend Chip, who consequently is the Course Director for our very next Wood Badge course in March, about one of the great results of staffing the course. Staffers become even better leaders. The old adage “if you want to really learn something, teach it” is true. As a participant, I know there were nuggets of wisdom that I missed and didn’t understand until I had the syllabus in hand as a staffer. Each new staffer receives a thick 3-ring binder that details each day of the course. Every presentation and activity has a Learning Objective, Materials needed, and a Delivery Method.

Staffers are not participants, but the value they receive in the hard work of preparation (and it is hard work), is an even better understanding of the leadership values taught. I’m certain, that they return to their packs, troops, crews, teams, and ships, districts, etc., and are even more ready to make a difference in the lives of the youth and fellow volunteers they serve.

And they make it look easy.

Yesterday and Today are Linked

Baden-Powell was a man of vision. When he designed the first Wood Badge course, he was looking to train adults to become good leaders. It was titled Scoutmaster Training. The essentials included learning the Patrol method, troop organization and scout skills. The intent in B-P’s vision was to help the Scoutmasters to learn how to lead their troops.

Today’s course, Wood Badge for the 21^st Century is designed around this vision – helping adults become better leaders. I think the combination of the activities and the lectures strike the right note to accomplish this tone.

Last Saturday, I attended the NCAC annual planning conference. I dutifully brought the display board to advertise Wood Badge and plenty of brochures. Mainly, I was there because I’m on the NCAC Leadership Development Committee as the coordinator of Trainer’s EDGE for our Council. Trainer’s EDGE is the course that Scout leaders who are either District trainers, Unit trainers, or staffers for Wood Badge or NYLT must attend. NCAC conducts a really great course – not because of me, but because of the predecessors who developed the way we present the syllabus. The staffers are excellent trainers who Explain, Demonstrate, Guide and Enable (EDGE) how to conduct scout training (or any training for that matter).

Anyway, I was at the planning conference, at Camp Snyder in Haymarket, Virginia at 8:00am on a Saturday morning. Drinking my coffee… talking with scout leaders I know, some of whom I haven’t seen in awhile. I was wearing my “Ask Me About Wood Badge” pin that we made to help promote the course (and seems to work, because people ACTUALLY ask me about Wood Badge!). A fellow scout leader approached me to talk about how he would never set foot on a current Wood Badge course. An interesting way to begin a conversation, I knew this guy wanted to tell me his story. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear all the things wrong with the course. It’s a bit like having someone tell you all the things wrong with your children. You may know they’re all true, but you’re not sure you want someone actually tell you about it. Especially someone you don’t even know. Who was this guy anyway??

As it turned out, he didn’t even take the course in our council. And it was years ago. And it was the old syllabus. I’ve heard from others who took the pre 21^st Century course that the staff didn’t really interact with the participants and that participants were discouraged from talking to the scoutmaster at all (this I think was in an effort to illustrate the patrol method). Apparently, the course this scouter attended followed this plan and it came across as a very elitist staff. This guy was completely turned off by it.

Then, to add insult to injury (at least for him), the Wood Badge for the 21^st Century administration directives includes that staffers have to have attended the new course. This scouter saw it as a ruling by National that those who haven’t taken the 21^st Century course are not worthy to be staffers. (Which really isn’t the case, but this guy already had a negative attitude.)

One of my colleagues happened by when we were talking and he heard the conversation and stopped. He’s taken both courses. He’s staffed both courses. Previously we had talked about how he sees this syllabus as so much better because of the differences in the role of staffers interacting with the participants. So I knew he might have an impact with this guy, since he’s been in both camps.

Unfortunately, this scout leader’s injury runs pretty deep.

What a shame. I am hopeful that we at least gave him something to think about. That, circumstances can change. Mistakes can be corrected. Things can get better.

It also made me realize how careful we all must be – imagine if this was a youth who’s experience with a particularly gruff scoutmaster or patrol leader was similar. He’d just quit, most likely.

We have a responsibility to do our best and to live up to the Scout Oath and Law. The Cub Scout Core Values includes Compassion. The Boy Scout Law says a Scout is Kind. That includes the adults we work with in the program.

And the people we encounter every day.

It’s a lot to live up to. I hope folks will forgive me when I don’t always live up to it. I’ll try and do the same.

Wood Badge N6-82-11-2 - Fall 2011

Preparations are underway for the Fall 2011 NCAC Wood Badge course. I've begun selecting staff and making arrangements. I'm working on my vision and goals. Over and over, the skills I learned at Wood Badge as a participant are reinforced.

How do you select staffers for Wood Badge?

To begin with, a scout leader needs to have completed the course! A few years ago, the National council required that all Wood Badge staffers complete the Wood Badge for the 21st Century course. There have been other WB courses in the past and many fine leaders who have staffed these courses. But, I think it makes sense that a staffer needs to understand what it is like to take the current syllabus in order to lead it. Of course, it's not likely that a participant will see all the gems of the syllabus. Being a staffer increases the understanding immensely. Each time I have been on staff, I've learned something new and made a new connection.

Good staffers are good trainers. I've talked with fellow scout leaders about who in our council are part of their district training team, who have taught at Pow Wow and University of Scouting, are Roundtable Commissioners or lead a Council training team. These leaders need to be comfortable in front of a group and are willing to teach a syllabus and know how to make it interesting. Wood Badge is about leadership. It took me awhile to figure out why I was asked to be on staff and why I was eventually asked to be a Course Director. Becoming a good trainer has a lot to do with it.

Yes, it's a commitment. As part of the information staffers receive is a questionnaire that asks the leader to make the Wood Badge staff a top priority. That's no small request. Especially in an environment that generally sees leaders (especially good ones) wearing several hats. Development for the staff happens over six months. The course is two three-day weekends with a prep day for staff. Troop Guides for the course are required to meet with their patrols twice in between the two weekends of the course. It's better for a leader to say at the beginning, "it's too much to ask" then to say "I'll try and make it work." I respect someone much more for saying no because there are other important priorities in their life. It's better to say no at the onset, then to say no when we're in the middle of preparing for Day 1 of the course.

I'm grateful for those who tell me no as much as those who tell me yes they can be on staff. I know all things happen for a reason. God has a plan. I look forward to discovering God's plan for me on this journey and for helping the leaders who ultimately end up on staff and for the participants who take Wood Badge to discover God's plan for them as well.

“There is no teaching to compare with example.” Baden-Powell