[philmont] Team Building Skills

Excellent Point John, and one that should be filed away for future reference
by those advisors going in the coming years. Put the time in up front, let
the boys learn to work together, give the marginal guys time to decide if
they are part of the team or would rather not go. If they decide to go, they
need time to figure out where and how they fit in. This also applies to the
Advisors who have not worked together as a team before. They need to know
each others strengths and weaknesses as well as how to 'read' each other.
Tom

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From: philmont@troop47.com [mailto:philmont@troop47.com] On Behalf Of John
LeBlanc
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 4:29 PM
To: philmont List Member
Subject: [philmont] Team Building Skills

Bill Parcells is a good coach but is continually frustrated at not putting
together a viable team in Dallas. There are many factors open for debate on
this one, but the bottom line is the team isn't working. He is capable, but
just not with what he has to work with right now. His record of the past
shows his capability.
 
This is not a debate about Bill Parcells, but a lesson to think about when
putting together a Philmont crew.
 
There have been many posts recently about "behavior contracts".
Occasionally you may get a bad apple and have to deal with it before it
ruins the barrel, but so often the Philmont Trek Crew (the team) is a
composite and just haven't had the opportunity to gel as a team before they
hit the trail.
 
There is a lot of time spent on reservations, choosing the right trek,
cooking and hiking methods, reserving a shuttle buss, but oftentimes team
building is left to evolution.
 
If left this way, sometimes it works itself out eventually, but more often
than not it doesn't.
 
The troop crew has spent many hundreds of hours in camp together working
these things out, but composite crew have not.
 
It is imperative that the leader of these crews set up team building as it's
number one priority above all else. Above hiking methods, cookiong methods,
above everything.
 
There are many good methods to get this done. The business community has
come to realize that this is paramount. The military realized it long ago,
however their method is a bit forceful for Scouts.
 
If you want your crew to succeed, invest in team building skills before they
hit the trail. It doesn't happen overnight or by accident or by following
an instruction manual.
 
John LeBlanc

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Received on Wed Nov 1 18:05:34 2006