The Most Important Thing I Learned at Scout Camp

It's probably premature to say this, because there's still plenty of time for me to fins out that I'm wrong about what I'm about to say, but I think I may have found my element. For as long as I've been serving as a leader, even of other young men, even of those younger than myself, I've felt underqualified. I've felt that I didn't have what it takes to be a leader. I don't feel like I make good decisions, I don't think I handle stress very well, and a frequently feel overwhelmed. Since planning and crisis-management are part of a leader's job, and I felt that I don't do well in those areas, I thought that I simply wasn't cut out to be a leader.

However, my week at Scout Camp taught me that I have other leaderly qualities. Specifically, I'm patient and understanding, I can be persuasive, yet gentle, and I can provide an uplifting and infectious positive attitude. In short, though I may not excel in the managerial side of being a leader, I have some talent for being a leader "on the field," so to speak. I may not be able to lead an organization, but I can lead a small team.

And the group I've been called to lead is certainly a small team.

Some people believe that knowing one's own weaknesses is useful in that it tells you where you need to improve. I disagree, to a certain extent. While I agree that it is good to try to reduce one's own weaknesses, I'm not sure that eliminating them completely is even possible in all cases, and it may not be the best use of one's time. Rather, I think that knowing one's own weaknesses is most helpful to those who use that information to adjust their methods. For example, a person who has more intelligence than they have strength would do better to put themselves in a position where their intelligence gives them an advantage than to work on their strength until theirs is on par with everyone else's. Yes, one could work on their weaknesses in order to round themselves out and make themselves more adaptable, but in a team, having four or five people who are all average in every way is less useful than having the same number of people who each excel at different things.

There are people who know how to run an organization and who thrive under pressure, but I'm not one of those people. If I made enough effort, I could probably learn those skills, but it's probably wiser to work with the strengths I already have. I have traits and talents that make me a natural leader, just in a different sense than I had been thinking. If there's one thing I've learned at Scout Camp, it's that I can be a leader. I may not be a great organization leader, but I can be a great team leader. If I bear that in mind, consider the Young Men's Presidency as a team, and draw upon the strengths of others while utilizing my own, I think I can be a great leader, which is something I would never have had the confidence to say a week ago. I can be a leader; a team leader.