When the Best Leaders Work is Done...

In Ken Blanchard's book, "The One Minute Manager" there is quote that goes something like this, 'When the Best Leader's Work is Done the People Say We Did it ourselves."

I have known this quote for a long time and have been a constant student of leadership since my time serving in a leadership role at Chick-fil-A in my first career.  However, it really wasn't until recently I realized the fulfillment of this quote.  In my position as Scoutmaster I have dedicated my time to developing young men into good citizens and also great leaders.  Using the leadership skills that I had learned and had been taught throughout my career and then sharing those with young men in the leadership of the Troop.

During a time that had prevented me from being present at the Scout meetings and also by my absence and the absence of others changed the entire planned program for the month I found that the boys of their own cognizance called a PLC (Patrol Leader's Council) meeting to develop an alternative meeting plan for the upcoming weeks.  Complete with games/challenges and activities, what would be taught or worked on and then to have an after meeting PLC to discuss the following week.  I saw evidence of their planning session up on the white board which even included the times for when each activity would transition to the next one.

Wow!  I thought to myself.  We have been conducting PLC's for a while now and yes, they usually do lead them with an adult such as myself interjecting with a question or two but oh my, they did this completely on their own without prompting from an adult and created an action plan.  I could not be more proud of them!  It was in that moment that I realized the fulfillment of that quote, "When the best leader's work is done, the people say we did it ourselves!"

Scoutmaster Minutes Are Not Just For the Scouts

Many times prior to a Scout Meeting I am searching for some relevant and meaningful message to relay to the Scouts during that special time dedicated as a Scoutmaster Minute. Sometimes I wonder if it will be good enough. Sometimes I wonder if they will take to heart the meaning.

For some Scoutmaster Minutes I get a little inspiration from the Scouts themselves either by an action, a word, or even a suggestion. It can be hard to create something inspirational EVERY week but there are many hours, and many days of opportunities in between.

Recently during a Troop meeting one of the older Scouts, now an Adult and Assistant Scoutmaster who received his Eagle last year reminded not only myself but also the Troop of a theme in a series of Scoutmaster Minutes over the summer. The theme was having a Positive Mental Attitude. Also, this same Scout completed a survey for my book project in which the question was asked what his favorite Scoutmaster Minute was. His response was about how we should be the coffee to change the water. 

The title of the Minute is called "The Eggs, Carrots, and Coffee" which is basically about when life is tough how do we react. Are we the carrots which are hard and strong during good times then become soft and weak when placed in boiling water, or the eggs with a hard outer shell but weak and fragile on the inside then become hard on the inside even though we may appear the same on the outside when placed in the boiling water of life. Or, possibly are we the coffee which actually changes the water to become something better and unique?

I have been meditating on these very moments of inspiration that I offered to others during a time of stress for me and how instead of me inspiring them, these Scouts have in turn inspired me.

What Does an Eagle Scout Mentor Pin Mean to Me?

Eagle Scout Mentor pins are given by the Eagle Scout, typically at their Eagle Ceremony, to a person that has had a significant impact on helping them achieve their accomplishment.  There are special pins for the parents of the Eagle Scout so a mentor pin is usually reserved for someone else besides a parent, although, you certainly can give it to a parent.

Throughout a Scout's journey or "Trail to Eagle" there are many people that are helping along the way.  Some of these individuals are in the foreground such as the Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmasters while others can be in the background.  Those would be your committee members, the Advancement Chair, perhaps a designated Life to Eagle Coordinator.  Also, it could be others outside of Scouting for example, a teacher, youth pastor, or other adult mentor.  Each one is cheering the person on and encouraging them along the way.  Each one passing some sort of advice either by word or by example of action.

In our Troop, Troop 3, Scouts get to choose their Eagle Ceremony and we also ask them "How many mentor pins would you like to present?"  We will provide upto three at no cost but there is no limit to the number of mentors an Eagle Scout may recognize. Most will get the three to present.  Some have already thought about this question and have prepared for the answer and respond immediately.  Others have said they need to think about it, either because there are so many that they would like to recognize or because they had forgotten they can give recognition to others.  Our traditional format has been that after the awarding ceremony we offer a time of "Reflections" in which members of the Troop and audience stand and speak about their favorite memories of the Eagle Scout (a portion of the ceremony which is my favorite and I encourage all Scouts to include this as it is a special time to hear how they have impacted the lives of others) and then we have an Eagle Scout Response.  It is during the Eagle Scout Response that the Scout can share a story of their own and then present his chosen mentors with an Eagle Mentor Pin. I have been to and have witnessed many Eagle Ceremonies and I have really enjoyed this format.

Over the years since becoming an Eagle Scout myself, and an adult leader, I have helped and assisted with many Scouts that have toiled up the trail to earning Eagle.  Why? Because every Eagle during their ceremony will be offered either the Eagle Scout Pledge and/or Challenge.  And in that lies a promise to give back to Scouting what Scouting has given to you.  Besides, it offers me an opportunity to go camping and enjoy the out of doors!

I became an adult (18) in 2001 and it wasn't until 2015 that I was presented with my first Eagle Scout Mentor Pin.  I had watched others over the years being presented and I never really thought much about it.  Honestly, I don't remember when it became a "thing" to award a mentor pin as I was never offered the opportunity when I became an Eagle.  In fact, in my Eagle Kit there were no mentor pins.  It contained my Eagle patch, Eagle Medal, Mom pin, Dad pin, and a Tie-tac.  Now the kits come with a mentor pin instead of a tie-tac. However, I knew, that perhaps one day when I was presented with a mentor pin it would be a special occasion, in which it was.

I had started with a troop that was asking for some assistance from a younger adult to help with a new scout patrol.  I was eager to do so.  I remember taking this group out to a wooded area and asking them what their goal was in scouting.  And one of them responded that he wanted to be an Eagle Scout.  Fast forward several years, I had since left that troop after a couple of years because of work commitments and they had started to disband and the scouts had gone on to other troops, I get asked to attend an Eagle Ceremony for George Denny.  George was one of the young scouts that told me that day in the wooded area he wanted to become and Eagle Scout.  He had gone to my old Troop where I had earned my Eagle and so they were good about reaching out to me.  They had asked me to attend other ceremonies in the past for one reason or another and to be a part of the ceremony but this time was a little different.  Previously, when asked, they had made an initial contact and left it at that.  However, this time as we got closer to the date I had multiple people reaching to me to confirm my attendance, strange I thought.

It was there that I found out the reason why my attendance was so important, he had decided to give me a mentor pin.  I had not seen him in many years, although I sort of kept up with him through the Troop's social media pages and watched him along, but I honestly didn't think I had made that much of an impact on him.  Wow!  I was a little teared eyed that night and was so honored.  I was going to tell the story of when I had first met him and how he told me of his goal but George beat me to it.  Sometimes you never know what impact you can have on someone even if it is for a short time.  He has gone on to college and plans on working in the space industry.  Probably one of the few people or scouts I know that has read the Scout Handbook from cover to cover.

Since then I have received a few more mentor pins and each one are so very special to me and yet, none of them did I expect.  The next one I received was from my first Eagle ceremony as Scoutmaster.  With each one I write on the back of them so that I know exactly who gave them to me and the year.  Some leaders wear their mentor pins every time they put on their uniform and that is fine.  Although there is no uniform guide on mentor pins since they are meant for "civilian" wear most people will wear them on their collar or on their pocket flap.  I, however, only wear mine on my uniform for special occasions, such as Court of Honor's or Eagle Ceremonies.  I don't want them to get tarnished or ruined.  Each one is sacred to me, and although I am proud of each one of those pins (not for my achievement but the achievement of those Scouts) I choose not to boast about them.

So, I titled this post with "What Does an Eagle Scout Mentor Pin Mean to Me?" and here is the answer.  It was one day when I was adding another mentor pin to my Eagle Kit (I keep them in my Eagle Kit along with my Eagle Medal and Patch that was given to me upon my achievement) I had a moment of realization of the fulfillment of my Eagle Scout Pledge/Challenge.  It was validation and physical evidence that I had given back to Scouting what Scouting had given to me in the assistance of helping brother scouts and now fellow Eagles achieve this accomplishment.  Each Eagle Scout Mentor Pin means to me as much as earning my own Eagle Scout Award.  Baden-Powell said, "Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best."