Ed, Some good questions, and I have really liked the answers that you have received too. I thought I'd throw my 2 cents worth into the discussion also. I was sectional commander for almost 5 years, and during those years we have a lot of activity and involvement of the boys and leaders. In the process we turned a pretty dysfunctional section in to a pretty strong one.
One of the first things I did as sectional commander was open up the lines of communication. I published a monthly (well, almost monthly) newsletter that was sent to each senior commander and each pastor. I pushed the sectional and district events that were coming up for the next several months, so folks had a lot of advance notice on events. I was on the phone a lot, and I tried to meet everyone I could (including the pastors in the section) I enlarged the staff considerably, ending up with about 12 people on my staff (including the Trailblazer and AST Ranger of the Year and a FCF scout so the boys in the section had a voice). Everyone knew what their job was. Many of these folks were expected to have an activity during the year (hiking trip or canoe trip for the older boys, field day for the younger boys, an FCF activity, advancement camp-out on a weekend, etc.) -- I didn't expect all of the staff to be at each event (but they had to be at theirs!), but with a dozen, I always had enough. We had regular staff meetings so everyone knew what everyone else was doing. I try real hard to be a "participative" type manager, so the staff certainly had a say in what we did and the direction we took the section in terms of activities, new staff members, promotions, etc. I spent a lot of time trying to get to know the commanders in the section. When my staff was in charge of an event, I tried to remain free so that I could talk with the commanders and the boys. When someone was doing a LTC, I told them that I wanted to be scheduled to teach at least once, so I could get to know the new commanders. We had quarterly sectional Round Tables, but it was difficult to get too many people to them. Ours is a fairly small section in our district (26 churches) but large geographically. Of course, if I got my staff there and at least one person from their church also, we would have a couple dozen people at the Round Table! As a section we cooperated with the district and region (even hosted our district commanders conference 2 or 3 times and our regional conference once). This paid a lot of dividends to the section that we are still benefiting from. I think this all can be summed up by stating: learn what your job is and then do it. The District Leadership Training Course (DLTC) is a good starting place for training for new staff members (that's what it is designed for). The current version of the DLTC would still be a valuable resource for staff members while we are waiting for the new one to be completed. Finally, find a mentor who has been doing a good job in their staff position for some time and pick their brain. When you have ideas, or problems, run them by your mentor. This is a great way to learn what your position entails. God bless you in this new position. You are in a position where you can really have an impact in the outposts in your section and thus the lives of a lot of boys. Jonathan At 09:53 PM 2/26/2002 -0500, Edward Christiansen wrote: >I've been on this list for a couple of years and said my share, >flamed and been flamed, but I've yet to see this discussion: > >I have recently been appointed to be a Deputy Sectional Commander. >I do not take the opportunity lightly, nor am I impressed with >my new position. There are about a dozen outposts under me and >I would like some suggestions on how to operate well in this role. >What has worked and hasn't? What sectional events worked well >and how did you organize them. How did you deal with "my kid >didn't get treated fairly at the Pinewood derby?" > >Thanks > >Ed Christiansen >_______ > Let the Golden Rule be your daily rule. > > Please pray for your list sponsor: http://eBible.org/mpj/ > > To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > or visit http://rangernet.org/subscribe.htm > http://rangernet.org ------------------------------------------- Jonathan Trower South Central Regional Training Coordinator E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: 254-420-1941 Fax: 254-710-1091 Home Page: http://mis.baylor.edu/trower _______ Let the Golden Rule be your daily rule. Please pray for your list sponsor: http://eBible.org/mpj/ To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit http://rangernet.org/subscribe.htm http://rangernet.org
