Boy Scouts of America

The

Commissioner

a publication for commissioners and professionals

Spring 2021

NatlCommServTeam_4k

Larry Chase
Service Chair lhc@chasehome.net

Adapting to Change

You may have noticed one constant in recent communications to commissioners: change. The reason is simple: There’s been a lot of it recently in Scouting and there will be more. Acknowledging change is one thing; adapting to it is something entirely different. It requires that we change — and that we help those we support do the same.

The units we serve have faced significant challenges over the past year and losses — in units, youth and adult membership, and professional staff — have resulted. There have also been successes: units that kept on Scouting and youth and adult volunteers who remained engaged. Where we saw success, we inevitably saw three characteristics:

  • Patience — a quiet confidence that Scouting will continue its mission
  • Persistence — a commitment that failure is not an option
  • Resilience — a capacity to recover quickly through collaboration to create and implement new solutions

Resilient organizations share certain traits:

  • Prepared — planning for short- and long-term outcomes
  • Adaptable — recognizing the importance of having members who can adjust and adapt
  • Collaborative — knowing that collaboration enables quick decisions, reduces risk, and builds trust
  • Communicative — communicating frequently and transparently
  • Responsible — taking responsibility for both their mission and their performance

As commissioners, we need to adopt and share these characteristics and traits.

And we must change our focus. Today, there are six things that must be the center of our attention:

  • Supporting units to ensure their leaders are inspired, engaged, committed, and optimistic
  • Recruiting commissioners to enable us to serve every unit
  • Communicating information to increase awareness of resources and access to them
  • Developing commissioners to enable them to serve units effectively
  • Growing Scouting by helping create, retain, and grow units for all programs
  • Adapting to change to ensure Scouting can be delivered effectively and sustainably

It’s more important than ever to remember our role as Scouting’s morale officers: There is good news to share today, and there will be more to share in the future. Scouting will survive its challenges; it will be a different organization in the future (implementation of our new national service territories alone is ample evidence of that), but it also will be a stronger one better prepared to fulfill its mission.

Throughout this issue, you’ll find articles about how your service team is adapting to change while helping you prepare to do the same and be better prepared to help the unit leaders you serve.

On the uptrail…

Larry Chase Articles

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Bray Barnes

Director, Global Security Innovative
Strategies

Bray Barnes is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, Silver
Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Learning for Life Distinguished
Service Award. He received the Messengers of Peace Hero award from
the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he’s a life member of
the 101st Airborne Association and Vietnam Veterans Association. Barnes
serves as a senior fellow for the Global Federation of Competitiveness
Councils, a nonpartisan network of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and
national laboratory directors. He has also served as a senior executive for the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, leading the first-responder program
and has two U.S. presidential appointments

David Alexander

Managing Member Calje

David Alexander is a Baden-Powell Fellow, Summit Bechtel Reserve philanthropist, and recipient of the Silver Buffalo and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the founder of Caljet, one of the largest independent motor fuels terminals in the U.S. He has served the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association, Teen Lifeline, and American Heart Association. A triathlete who has completed hundreds of races, Alexander has also mentored the women’s triathlon team at Arizona State University.

Glenn Adams

President, CEO & Managing Director
Stonetex Oil Corp.

Glenn Adams is a recipient of the Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the former president of the National Eagle Scout Association and established the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award. He has more than 40 years of experience in the oil, gas, and energy fields, including serving as a president, owner, and CEO. Adams has also received multiple service awards from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.