Evaluate, Review, Reflect

Looking back, looking forward, looking in…

Even as our Scouts are looking at what they need to do, what they have done, and what they think they can do, we should be doing the same thing. Evaluating our performance, reviewing our goals, and reflecting on the difference between the two are important aspects of leadership, and of Scouting in general. Through the advancement method, we teach Scouts to set goals, do their best, evaluate their performance, and learn from their experiences. To be effective unit leaders, we must do the same thing.

Looking Back

At every opportunity, a Scouter needs to evaluate what he or she is doing. The Scoutmaster needs to evaluate how effective his Scoutmaster Conferences and Scoutmaster Minutes are. The Committee Chair needs to evaluate how good a job the unit committee is doing. Evaluation is the only way we can see where we are, compared to where we’ve been and where we want to go. Like a Scout, we set a goal for ourselves, work toward that goal, and occasionally look back to see how much progress we’ve made.

If you’ve ever tried hiking in deep snow, you’ll have a pretty good idea how important evaluating our progress can be. You see, if we just start hiking through the snow, pretty soon we start thinking about how far we’ve gone, and how far we have to go. If we don’t look back, chances are we’ll think we’ve progressed farther than we have. The longer we go without looking back at our progress, the more discouraged we’ll be when we finally do.

That doesn’t mean we need to look back at our progress every couple steps. That can be equally discouraging because we won’t be able to see much progress. The trick is to look back just often enough to reassure ourselves that we’re making progress, and that our progress is in the right direction. The rest of the time, we need to keep one eye on where we’re going, and one eye on where we want to be.

So, when we evaluate the job we’re doing, we’re basically making sure we’re going in the right direction, looking at what adjustments need to be made, and estimating how far we have traveled. Our evaluation helps us review and reflect on what we’re doing, just like evaluation helps a Scout understand what he’s learned, and figure out what he needs to do.

Read full article at Green Bar