Via storytelling, this concise, helpful book tackles the wide breadth of emotions that come with being a Scouter…
I found it!
For several weeks since becoming a leader in my son’s Scout troop, I looked for some reading that would help me sort out the many observations, emotions, and lessons that popped into my head on the drive home from our unit’s weekly meetings.
As an assistant scoutmaster, I often marveled at how cool the more experienced Scouters were in terms of dealing with the moods and methods of our teenage boys and girls. I noticed that, contrary to the Cub Scout meetings I’ve been more used to over the length of my son’s BSA career, the adults endeavored to place the Senior Patrol Leader in the prime leadership position.
They were also much more able to deal with the cacophony of squeaky sopranos and tenuous tenors. But I digress.
Former Scoutmaster Clarke Green’s book So Far, So Good! A New Scoutmaster’s Story reads like the way you’d hope your interactions with the Scouts, fellow Scouters, committee members, and parents would sound like in real life. Of course, Green fully admits that the book contains moments, incidents, and experiences from his over 30-year career.
However, Green’s Amazon description reads:
Now that I’ve retired my Scoutmaster badge I’m able to write what I would have appreciated reading when I first took on the job 30 years ago.
Since I started writing a blog at ScoutmasterCG.com 11 years ago, I’ve learned something of the power of storytelling.
This narrative loosely follows my own experiences, but the new Scoutmaster in the story begins knowing things that took me many years to understand [emphasis mine]. I share it with the hope you’ll find it useful, and inspire you to discover something more about the spirit of your work as a Scouter.
This was a great “listen” – and I would recommend downloading the audiobook and listening to Mr. Green himself speak to the experiences we all look to understand.
Now, hindsight is 20/20. But the way the “Mr. G” in the book interacts with everyone lends real insight into the actual goals of Scouting, with an emphasis on youth leadership and giving teens a safe place to learn, fail, and find success.
Moreover, in regard to adult leadership and learning, as Green said in his dedication:
We all encounter the same challenges, setbacks, triumphs, and rewards. We are never alone.
We share the joy of serving Scouting’s most important volunteers: the Scouts themselves.
The entire book reminds the listener/reader of those facts and emphasizes the patience required to help the kids in our charge improve along their own path rather than churning so-called perfect Scouts.
I can’t recommend So Far, So Good! more.
