Do your Best to Be Prepared

We never fail when we try to do our duty, we always fail when we neglect to do it. - Col Baden Powell

The Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared!" It is an command one gives one's self. As you mature in age and are given more and more responsibilities - more school work, more activities that require preparation, more responsibilities around your home - you will discover the importance or being prepared. Nothing helps to drive home this imperative more than neglecting to bring a sleeping bag on a camping trip or an extra pair of socks on a long hike. This responsibility is only magnified when you find yourself responsible for others - as a patrol leader, for example. This is part of what Col. Powell was referring to.



Yet in thinking about the challenges that each of you scouts have in learning to be prepared, I often return to another motto, a motto for albeit young boys but which is nevertheless just as relevant. The Cub Scout motto: Do You Best. Another imperative. Do you do you best when you prepare yourself for the activities and events that you're involved in? Do you do you best when you serve your patrol or the Troop? Do you do your best when you are given instructions by your Patrol Leader, SPL, Scoutmaster or parents? What does doing your best really mean?



I think when Col Powell drew a correlation between NOT trying and failing, version trying and succeeding, he was looking beyond the practical measurements of success. Instead, he was directing us toward the edifying value of preparation and diligence. Do your best to be prepared whenever you have a duty to perform and even though everything might go wrong, you will not have failed in your duty, you will just have a lot of edifying experiences. You might get similar experiences when you do not do your best, but you would have failed for lack of trying.



So now, as you look forward to the next season of scouting, be diligent to think about what your duties are - to yourself, your family, your patrol, your Troop - and Be Prepared! This requires thinking ahead and planning. It also requires a measure of determination and self-discipline.

Servant First Leadership

The term "Servant Leader" was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf. Mr. Greenleaf was a management consultant in the early 20th century. During his career he began to realize that the authoritarian style of leadership that predominated American corporations was not effective (ref Wikipedia). To address the problem, he founded the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. He described leadership in this way:

The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead (Essentials, Greenleaf.)

Of course, the concept of servant leadership was not novel. We learn about this from example in scripture. Recall when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples (John 13:1-17.) Peter objected. He did not want his Lord to wash his feet, yet Jesus insisted; he demanded that Peter would accept it or he'd have nothing to do with him. Peter, of course, relented and would have had Jesus wash his whole body.

But why did Jesus do this? Why did the Lord of Heaven and Earth lower himself so? Well, he explains it at the end of the passage:

 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you (John 13:15)

 He was telling his disciplines, the very ones he had chosen to lead the Church, to become servants! This is, in fact, the example that Jesus had already set, as he travelled around caring for everyone he met. The act of washing their feet was to punctuate the point.

So, when you find yourself in a position of leadership, ask yourself if you are serving those you lead. Are you building them up? Are you helping them to meet their goals? Are you showing them how to serve? If you are not, perhaps you should step back and learn to serve first, then aspire to lead.