Leadership series #4
GET OFF YOUR DUFFS AND LEAD
Royal Rangers
leadership article #4
Chaplain Jeff "Bullmoose" Ortner #446
This subject reminds me of a story I read a while back :
A duck hunter was going hunting at a nice hunting ranch when his dog got
sick. The ranch owner lends the hunter his best duck dog. A winning
retriever named "Major." This dog was a fabulous duck dog and the hunter
fell in love with him.
The next year the duck hunter comes back to the ranch and leaves his old
dog at home hoping to use Major again. The owner informs that Major is not
the same dog that hunted last year. The hunter is shocked and dismayed. He
asked, "Why and what happened?"
"Well," the owner replied, " it seems someone last year started calling
the dog 'Lieutenant Colonel’ and now all he does is sit in the corner and
bark orders."
You may ask what does this have to do with leadership?
The reason is clear that many of us in Royal Rangers believe that when we
advance in rank or are promoted to a higher position, that our job seems to
change. That we go from being good role models and leaders into "Old Salts"
and managers. We get the idea that we can sit in the corner and bark orders
and things will get done. This cannot be further from the truth.
Taking care of your boys is one of the basic tenets of leadership at
every level. Without it, all else falls by the wayside. What we do for the
boys will count farther than anything you do.
You may have heard this quote before:
" One hundred years from now it won’t matter what kind of car I drove,
how much money or land I had, but the world may be different because you
were important in the life of a child."
We can all imagine the ways we can take care of our boys: recognition for
jobs well done, keeping them safe from harm, giving them good advice and
instruction, and just being there for moral support. I wonder how many of us
think about the way we treat our boys as a way of taking care of them?
I know we have read the old Royal Ranger proverb of truth: "A man never
stands so tall until he stoops down to help a boy." This truth still is
fresh and true today.
I remember one time back in the early 60’s when Royal Rangers was in its
infant stage. As a young boy I remember going to a scout troop camporama, We
were suppose to bring our own food and sleeping tents. Later that night,
after we all had gone to bed, it rained so hard and flooded so badly that we
were all getting wet. The scout master knew we were getting soaked and
stayed up with us trying to find a dry tent to keep us out of the cold rain.
He had a bigger tent and he dug a trench around it to transfer the rain
water away from the tent. We stayed in his tent as he put his rain coat on
to endure the outside deluge. I remember him outside also digging a big deep
hole and shoving all the fire, wood, and coals into it and then covering it
back up. He then covered the fire dirt mound with an old tarp. We all asked
why he did that and he said, "It’s our morning breakfast fire and we are
going to have a hot breakfast." I don’t think anyone believed him that we
would have fire in the morning, because it rained down in buckets.
Finally we endured the night experience and waited till the rain stopped.
The next morning as the clouds cleared and the birds began to sing, as
hundreds of men and wet boys crawled out of their tents. I could see many
sloshing through the mud looking for dry wood which was impossible to find.
You couldn’t even get a twig to burn. But the mist of a morning fog there
was only one trail of smoke coming from one lone troop of 10 boys and a
single scout master. Our leader dug up the fire and to our amazement it was
still burning. I can still see the happy faces from our boys as they lined
up for hot French toast and hot chocolate for breakfast.
I remember seeing other troops less than 50 feet away eyeballing the warm
fire and our hot breakfast wishing they were at our campfire too. That warm
fire also dried out our clothing that we were wearing and we had a great
time for the rest of the day. I’ll never forget seeing other leaders coming
over and wanting to use our fire, which we gladly gave away after we got
through eating. We were heroes of the encampment and we bragged about it
too. I don’t remember much more about that camp out, but the impression of
caring about us that the leader gave us. Made me want to be apart of that
group and under his leadership for years to come.
This is the way we need to teach our future leaders to take care of their
boys. To use intimidation, fear, and barking load commands to get the job
done isn’t the right way to lead.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower once said: "You do not lead by hitting
people over the head--that’s assault, not leadership." I must concur with
that in what I hear at many Royal Ranger leadership meetings; " Either LEAD,
FOLLOW, or GET OUT of the WAY."
All of us in Royal Ranger leadership positions must remember we are
dealing with young, impressionable youths. Our actions, words, and indeed
the way we carry ourselves are messages we send to them. Messages that soak
in like a sponge even if they don’t realize it. From the lone Outpost
Commander to the National Commander, our every word, gesture, and attitude
may be imitated by our subordinates. We do not cease being role models for
our boys as we move up in rank or positions. Exactly the opposite, and we
even remain role models without the uniform. We become more of the ideal
that they wish to emulate.
You may remember a song about being careful what you say, hear, or do
because there are little ears, eyes, and hands watching you. We need to
become the pinnacle of their aspirations.
Let us not forget this as our ever changing organization moves forward,
as our goals and objectives change due to new and greater positions within
the organization. No matter our position or rank, we cannot just sit in the
corner and bark orders. We remain leaders, responsible to our boys to take
care of them in all ways.
