Respect

Many scouts in this world think that a person can just demand respect no matter how they act and they will get it. Respect cannot be demanded of a person it must be earned by developing a relationship with the person under you that is trusting and is a two way street. What I mean by two way street is that the leader must respect the subordinate and the subordinate must be willing to respect the leader. Demanding respect will get a person nowhere in life and it definitely not a very effective way for getting information and ideas across to the members of the patrol.

To get respect a person should start with the following tasks:

1. Attitude: Have a positive and appropriate attitude even when their is a problem. A positive attitude can make or break the difference between pulling out of a problem and not pulling out of a problem. As soon as the leader looses their positive attitude, the group will loose their positive attitude which makes it very hard to to accomplish the assigned tasks of the group.
   
2. Behavior: Be a person that is kind and generous. Never assign a task that you would not be willing to do yourself. Being kind is necessary in order to develop a relationship that will lead a person to wanting to be helpful to you.
3. Loyalty: A Be there for you scouts. This does not mean that you have to make every meeting but you must faithfully serve your scouts in every possible manner. A leader cannot make every meeting but the leader must be willing to stay in regular contact with your group members.
4. Listen: A leader must learn to actively listen to the ideas of his superiors and his subordinates. Active listening requires a person to make eye contact and fully pay attention to that person. A leader must first learn to listen before he can learn to communicate.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 Philmont AA '08