Advancement & Awards

Five tips for great troop leader elections

He’s right, and like the election for a state governor or U.S. Senator, proper planning is needed to make troop elections run smoothly and ensure that all candidates have a fair shot.

Leader Advice and Inspiration

Preparing Boys for Leadership

A three-level training continuum provides progressively sophisticated tools for developing youth leaders in your troop.

Leaders

Let Your Scouts Lead

Want to achieve a youth-led unit? Find the balancing point between helping them succeed and letting them flounder. Here’s how.

Leader Advice and Inspiration

This is Not a Test

A board of review should gauge the quality of a Scout’s troop experience and encourage future advancement, not ask him to pass rank requirements — again.

Leader Advice and Inspiration

Creating functional Boy Scout patrols

Scouter A.S.’s troop has two patrols: the “chaos” patrol of new Scouts and the “I’m too cool” patrol of veterans. He asked for ideas on creating a better unit structure, where older Scouts teach younger ones.

Leaders

A New Vision of Youth Leadership

Revised council-level training will help prepare Scouts more than ever to provide important leadership to their troops.

Leader Advice and Inspiration

Tips for encouraging a large troop to be boy-led

Readers respond to a unit committee member who asked how a troop of 100 boys might provide Scouts with opportunities to lead when adults find it easier to assume the leadership roles.

Leader Advice and Inspiration

What to do when older Scouts stay aloof

After a three-year drought of new members, J.R.’s troop has had an influx of new Scouts. “How can we get our older boys to mingle with the new guys and show them what to do, instead of doing it for them because it’s easier?” he asked.