{"id":2732,"date":"2021-03-10T10:57:10","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T15:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=2732"},"modified":"2021-03-10T10:57:11","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T15:57:11","slug":"march-10-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2021\/03\/march-10-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"MARCH 10, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

[NO. 669 \u2013 20TH YEAR OF HELPING SCOUTS, SCOUTERS, & PARENTS]<\/em><\/p>\n

Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Looks like I only write you when things are going seriously awry, but thanks to your personal mission, I do know who to turn to when things aren\u2019t right.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a 20+ year volunteer and presently an Assistant District Commissioner (\u201cADC\u201d) for a fairly large, multi-district council. We\u2019ve had re-orgs in the past and it looks as though we\u2019re starting yet another one. But where the earlier ones were transparent and inclusive, this one isn\u2019t.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of my fellow commissioners and I have learned (afterwards) about meetings of staff and some volunteers held with no prior announcements, and they\u2019ve been \u201cclosed sessions\u201d as well. I know this for sure, because another ADC sent me the Zoom link for one of these, but when I attempted to \u201cjoin meeting\u201d I was locked out. In response to a quick text message about this that I quickly sent to my District Commissioner and District Executive, I was told I\u2019m \u201cnot on the list,\u201d but they promised me that they\u2019d tell the Zoom Host to admit me. That never happened. I waited for over an hour to receive the invite confirming the session number and pass code, but that never happened. Plus, when I re-texted the DC and DE, neither responded.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Four days later, I still hadn\u2019t heard from the DE, and then the DC told me that I\u2019d been \u201ctransferred\u201d to another district and I\u2019d shortly be told which one!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Turns out my \u201cnew\u201d district holds its commissioner meetings and district Roundtables at a location that\u2019s more than an hour\u2019s one-way drive from my home. When I pointed this out, I was switched to another, closer-to-home district and to three troops that I\u2019ve served before and know well.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But then, when I met with each of the three troops\u2019 \u201ckey three\u201d (Chartered Organization Representative, Committee Chair, and, Scoutmaster), I learned that, thanks to a newly-drawn district \u201cdividing line,\u201d these troops have been \u201cseparated\u201d from their former \u201cfeeder\u201d Cub Scout packs! This, without any advance notice, or consultation, or actions of collaboration. It was simply done, thus giving three troops no traditional means of annual recruiting and three packs high and dry.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time the DC and DE have lied to me. I\u2019m truly puzzled about whatever happened to the Scout Law\u2019s \u201cTrustworthy\u201d and \u201cCourteous.\u201d As a leader from one of the troops I served said, “None of these changes, or the way they were done, fits any part of the Scout Oath or Law.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve complained about the treatment of these six units all the way up the line and the only result is that the BSA national office has invalidated my \u201cmyscouting.org\u201d name and password. I now have Internet access to my own records, to say nothing of my district\u2019s and my unit contacts\u2019 information!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Among other stuff I\u2019m seeing\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chopping out a fast-growing troop\u2019s feeder pack (they have different sponsors, but are in the same general neighborhood and share their town\u2019s schools!), leaving the troop high and dry.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The seemingly arbitrary forcing out of dozens of multi-decade volunteers (like me!).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBehind closed doors\u201d meetings and you only find out about them when you\u2019re unilaterally reassigned or\u2014worse\u2014simply sent packing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is there anything that can be done to right our sails and proceed in a healthier (and more Scout-like) direction? (Loyal but frustrated ADC)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Probably not. If you and others are being shut out and ignored now, there\u2019s little you\u2019re going to be able to do to change this. In fact, you\u2019ve already discovered that when you took some of your complaints \u201cup the line.\u201d (But it\u2019s unlikely that the BSA national office was actually involved, because these folks have enough \u201cfires\u201d to deal with\u2014like lawsuits and bankruptcy\u2014and the last thing they need now is to get involved in local councils\u2019 hairballs. Talk to your council\u2019s registrar and see if you can get your \u201cidentity\u201d back\u2014and you\u2019d best do this hat-in-hand and refrain from being belligerent or accusatory!)<\/p>\n

In any corporate re-org (and I\u2019ve gone through a couple of these in my professional career), there are the \u201cins\u201d and the \u201couts.\u201d The \u201cins\u201d are a small group and cohesive; the \u201couts\u201d are typically the rank-and-file, widely spread and usually with no \u201cnetwork.\u201d This of course means you\u2019re hardly alone. It\u2019s just that you\u2019re likely not closely connected with the majority of others who are being treated the same as you\u2026or worse.<\/p>\n

o what to do\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t try to fight city hall\u201d is pretty good advice. \u201cRide it out and let them chew each other up\u201d is also good advice. Don\u2019t get on your high horse about \u201cnot living up to the Scout Oath and Law\u201d\u2026 That\u2019s preachy and petty. The Scout Oath in fact instructs us to \u201cdo our best\u201d to live up to the points of the Oath and Law, and if you think about it, \u201cour best\u201d is indeed the best we can do! It\u2019s just that, for these jokers, the bar\u2019s been set a lot lower. Best to not get exercised about someone else\u2019s inability to meet \u201cyour\u201d standards.<\/p>\n

All that said, there definitely is something you can do as a unit-serving representative of the BSA: You can focus on helping your units survive and thrive despite what\u2019s being thrown at them right now. You do this by not allowing yourself to create or engage in a \u201cunit-level pity party.\u201d Instead, you\u2019re the cheerleader (yes, CHEERLEADER!). Your units\u2019 leaders need somebody who can think positively, who can find solutions to problems, who can keep them from self-destructing, who can find ways to dodge bullets and find a way around the cannon-fire.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re up to it, this is the most important thing you can do! It will help your units the most! Here\u2019s one example\u2026<\/p>\n

A Scout troop with a traditional \u201cfeeder pack\u201d of Cub Scout who\u2019ll graduate into that troop in time gets lazy. They start believing that it\u2019s de facto that all that pack\u2019s graduating Cubs will join their troop. It doesn\u2019t occur to their key adults\u2014the Scoutmaster and the troop\u2019s chair and committee\u2014that from at least December through February, it\u2019s \u201copen season\u201d on Webelos Scouts who will soon graduate. Teach the troop you serve how to gently go after every pack in their town and\u2014with your fellow commissioners\u2014encourage every other troop in town to do the same.<\/p>\n

When all the troops do this, it makes the pack leaders feel important and valued and it gives their graduating Webelos options instead of same-old, same-old. This changes the choice-dynamic for families: Instead of parents asking their son or daughter, \u201cAre you gonna join Scout or play club or traveling soccer?\u201d<\/em> it becomes, \u201cWhich troop do you want to join?\u201d<\/em> <\/strong>This is a huge change in families\u2019 thinking and it\u2019s not only their offspring but Scouting itself that benefits!<\/p>\n

Finally, let\u2019s talk about you. If you continue to be unhappy and can\u2019t shed that feeling, it\u2019s time to go find something else that does make you happy. Because the simple fact is that if you\u2019re not happy, no one around you is going to be happy, either. Give yourself the gift of happiness, whether it\u2019s through Scouting or elsewhere\u2014You deserve it!<\/p>\n

Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay positive!<\/strong><\/span><\/em>
\nHappy Scouting!<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Andy<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I personally answer every message I receive. There\u2019s no \u201cwriting staff\u201d\u2014just me. When writing, please include your name & council. If you\u2019d rather be anonymous\u2014if published\u2014just tell me and I\u2019ll honor that. Although these columns are copyrighted, you have my okay to quote or reproduce any column or part, so long as it\u2019s attributed: \u201cAsk Andy\u201d by Andy McCommish.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[No. 669\u2013 3\/10\/2021 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 2021 Andy McCommish]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[NO. 669 \u2013 20TH YEAR OF HELPING SCOUTS, SCOUTERS, & PARENTS] Hi Andy, Looks like I only write you when things are going seriously awry, but thanks to your personal mission, I do know who to turn to when things aren\u2019t right. I\u2019m a 20+ year volunteer and presently an Assistant District Commissioner (\u201cADC\u201d) for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2732"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2736,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2732\/revisions\/2736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}