Eagle Project - Leading, Not Doing
| Category: | Advancement |
|---|---|
| Notes: | For Scouts planning or about to carry out an Eagle Scout service project. The point of the project is for the Scout to plan, develop, and give leadership to others. The current Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook has the official guidance. Part of a series - see also eagle-project-choosing-your-project, eagle-project-when-it-falls-apart, and eagle-project-the-thank-you. |
Here's something that surprises a lot of Eagle candidates. On the day of your project, the hardest thing you'll do has nothing to do with hammers, shovels, or paint.
The hardest thing is leading.
Your Eagle project isn't a test of whether you can build a bench. Plenty of people can build a bench. It's a test of whether you can plan a job, explain it to a group of volunteers, give everyone something useful to do, and keep the whole thing moving, even when some of those volunteers are adults who have been doing this kind of work longer than you've been alive.
That's uncomfortable. When a volunteer is doing something wrong, it's tempting to grab the tool and do it yourself. Don't. When nobody seems to know what's next, it's tempting to just start working and hope they follow. Don't do that either. Stop, get everyone's attention, and tell them the plan.
A good project leader is moving around, checking on each group, answering questions, solving problems, and watching the clock. If your hands are busy all day, your project probably isn't being led.
So plan ahead. Know every step before the day comes. Write down who's doing what. Have a backup job ready for the volunteers who finish early.
And on project day, put down the hammer. Your job is bigger than that now.