Lessons Learned from being a Wolf Cub Leader
After feeling like I had done a pretty poor job as a Tiger Cub leader, and a fair bit of discussion with my wife, I decided to give the Den leader job a try again. Here’s what went right, and not so right.
What Went Right
- Before the school year started, before the first den meeting, I looked at the requirements for Wolf and the Pack calendar. I laid out a plan for completing the requirements before the Blue and Gold banquet.
- I talked to one of the parents who had been active during Tiger Cubs, and asked for his help throughout the year. I was sure I could not do it alone, given the stress I was feeling at work, and likelihood of travel. I showed him the plan, and asked him to cover the topics in two weeks. He agreed, despite his own reservations regarding his own work stress and travel.
- Part of what I figured out in my plan to complete the requirements was that there were going to be several requirements that I simply would not be able to cover in den meetings. I wanted to be crystal clear with the parents right from the beginning that I expected them to do this stuff at home. So my wife helped me by typing up this document which I gave them a couple of times throughout the year.
- During one of my business trips, I managed to ask one of the other parents to help by covering some requirements during a meeting. I hate asking for help, so this was a great accomplishment for me.
- I downloaded the Wolf Trax and used it right from the first meeting to track progress. It is a fabulous tool.
- After prodding and coaxing, I got three of the six boys to finish their Wolf requirements in time for the end-of-year picnic. The other three boys hadn’t attended meetings at all in the spring, so I don’t feel bad that they didn’t get Wolf.
What Went Not-So-Right
- After one month, my original parent helper and his son stopped coming to meetings. I called a couple of times to ask if they were coming, but it became clear that they had other priorities. I never confronted him about his failure to keep his commitment to me, and it was too late for me to give up on the den.
- Even though I had laid out an achievable plan (with a couple of weeks to spare) for all the boys to get Wolf, the weather and family schedules got in the way. For the most part, the meetings were well attended, but by the end of the year, there were a patchwork of requirements still to be completed. I should have kept all the materials from all previous meetings with me in my briefcase. That way I could cover the material in promptu with a boy who had missed that meeting. It turned out OK in the end, but there were a number of meetings at the end of the year where I didn’t bother to plan, because I didn’t know what boys would show up, and therefore which requirements would need to be covered. I just did my best to look at the assembled scouts and cover the requirements that a couple of them still needed. Fortunately, most of them didn’t mind repeating a requirement or two.
- The pack we’re a part of isn’t terribly organized. For example, the pack meetings are organized in the first 10 minutes of the meeting as the cub master and assistant cub master compare notes on what they need to cover. Also, leadership meetings are typically announced on a Friday or Saturday for a Sunday meeting, via e-mail. Because of the late notice, I wasn’t able to attend one of them. The lack of organization frustrated me greatly last year, but this year I learned to just roll with it. However, I felt like I wasn’t able to contribute as much as possible because they weren’t organized, and because I wasn’t motivated to drive the organization. The only event that went off smoothly was the pinewood derby.
- My son and I didn’t do a single scout event outside of meetings and pack events. There are a couple of reasons for this: a) my motivation to do these events was very low, so even if I knew about them, I was likely to find an excuse not to go; b) our council relies on Pack/Den leadership to publicize council and district level events. Since we’re not terribly organized, we tended to find out about them 2-3 days in advance.
In all, the year went better than my Tiger Cub year. I was able to get many of the boys to complete their rank, and there were only a couple of hiccups along the way. Now, the Pack leaders are asking for someone to step up and be Cubmaster and Assistant Cubmaster. I know that I absolutely cannot be Cubmaster. Depending on who steps up, I might be able to help as Assistant Cubmaster. But they’ll have to be pretty organized, and good at telling me what they need me to do.
