Followership - Disagreeing the Right Way
| Category: | Leadership |
|---|---|
| Notes: | For any troop meeting. Pairs well with patrol leader training or a Patrol Leaders' Council. Part of a series - see also followership-the-other-half-of-leadership, mentoring-how-to-teach-a-skill, and mentoring-how-to-be-a-good-mentee. |
Sooner or later, it's going to happen. Your patrol leader makes a call, and you think it's wrong. Maybe it's the campsite, or the menu, or the route for tomorrow's hike. What do you do?
Some Scouts argue right there in front of everybody. Some go along with it and complain about it all day. Neither one helps.
A good follower has a third choice: speak up the right way.
First, pick your moment. If you can, talk to the leader on the side, not in front of the whole patrol. Nobody listens well when they're being put on the spot.
Second, bring a reason, not just a complaint. "This is dumb" doesn't help anybody. "That campsite floods when it rains, and the forecast says rain. What about the one up the hill?" gives the leader something to work with.
Third, once you've said your piece, let the leader decide. They might change their mind. They might not. If they don't, and it isn't a safety problem or a matter of right and wrong, then you back the decision all the way, as if it were your own idea. No sulking, and no "I told you so" later.
There's one exception. If something is unsafe, or someone is going to get hurt, you don't wait for the right moment. You speak up right away, and you get an adult if you need to. That's not being a bad follower. That's being a Scout.
Leaders need followers who will tell them the truth. Just tell it in a way they can hear.