Finding Good Commissioners
I was recently reviewing some Scout literature and looking at the advice they gave for how to find good candidates to serve as Commissioners (a never ending search). They spent a considerable amount of time talking about things like: respected member of the community, well liked, patient... What they did not seem to spend much time on was “familiarity with Scouting.” This struck me as odd considering what we actually want Commissioners to do.
A good Commissioner should be able to provide useful advice to other Scouters about how to make their programs better. Sometimes this advice is solicited. It often has to do with access to resources or information not directly available to the unit or with Scouting policy. Sometimes they are called upon to be a sounding board by a Scouter who wants a second opinion or who needs help in resolving a personnel problem. We always expect them to be able to observe their units and attempt to identify, and head off, problems, often even before the unit leadership becomes aware of them. All these things we expect of them seem to imply that Commissioners are deeply experienced in the Scouting program.
Now, I would be the first to agree that Commissioners also need to be respected, well liked, patient... But I have to confess that I have great difficulty imagining someone with no Scouting experience being a good Commissioner, much less a great one, until they have developed that experience. I do not think that the experience has to be in any particular slot or program. I have known great Commissioners who never served as a Cubmaster or Scoutmaster. But all the great ones I have met have served as either Committee Chairs, Scoutmasters, Assistant Scoutmasters, Cubmasters, Assistant Cubmasters, Den Leaders, or Advisors before becoming Commissioners, or served a long apprenticeship as a Commissioner before becoming really effective.
The bottom line here is, if you are looking for Commissioners (and all of us should be, all the time), ignore the guidance about “respected members of the community” and focus your attention on those Scouters who know the program well and who are willing to share what they know with their fellow Scouters. There are actually lots of those folks out there. The trick is to find the respected and competent ones and to get them to step up beyond their unit and work for the good of the whole program.
The best time to recruit these folks is either just as their youngest child “ages out” or just as they step down from some major leadership position at the unit level. These people are the future of Scouting. They are flattered if you let them know that and a fair number of them, properly approached, can be encouraged to continue their Scouting experience long past the departure of their children. But, you have to ask them...