The method of instruction in Scouting is that of creating in the boy the desire to learn for himself.
Robert Baden-PowellRead
The more responsibility the Scoutmaster gives his patrol leaders, the more they will respond.
Interpretation
Empowering others with responsibility encourages them to take action and perform better.
This quote highlights the principle that when individuals are given more responsibilities, they are likely to rise to the occasion and demonstrate their capabilities. It underscores the importance of trust and delegation in leadership, suggesting that when leaders provide opportunities for others to take charge, it fosters growth, accountability, and initiative.
In practice
In a team meeting where the manager encourages team members to take on new roles.
The method of instruction in Scouting is that of creating in the boy the desire to learn for himself.
Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best.
Success in training the boy depends largely on the Scoutmaster's own personal example.
Football is a grand game for developing a lad physically and also morally, for he learns to play with good temper and unselfishness, to play in his place, and to play the game, and these are the best of training for any game of life.
Life would pall if it were all sugar; salt is bitter if taken by itself; but when tasted as part of the dish, it savours the meat. Difficulties are the salt of life.
Show me a poorly uniformed troop and I'll show you a poorly uniformed leader.
To state the facts frankly is not to despair the future nor indict the past. The prudent heir takes careful inventory of his legacies and gives a faithful accounting to those whom he owes an obligation of trust.
I was raised with traditional stories of leadership: Robert E. Lee, John Buford at Gettysburg. And I also was raised with personal examples of leadership. This was my father in Vietnam. And I was raised to believe that soldiers were strong and wise and brave and faithful; they didn't lie, cheat, steal, or abandon their comrades.
Exercising leadership is an expression of your aliveness... But when you cover yourself up, you risk losing something as well. In the struggle to save yourself, you can give up too many of those qualities that are the essence of being alive, like innocence, curiosity, and compassion.
I've seen it again and again in my consulting: Most teams are too large to be innovative, despite their leaders' best intentions.
In short, there are certain fundamental requisites for wise and resolute democratic leadership. It must build on hope, not on fear; on honesty, not on falsehood; on justice, not on injustice; on public tranquility, not on violence; on freedom, not on enslavement.
We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details.
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