Ideally, you and your scouts make all decisions in the troop, and they should all be good decisions, making the troop stronger, and the scouts more skilled, responsible and happy. Under your leadership, everyone should live up to the scout oath and law and participate fully and enthusiastically in all troop activities. That's a tall order. Fortunately, you have help, and perfection is neither required nor expected. What is expected is that you take your responsibility seriously, and that you use your skills to the best of your ability.

Your ASPL and the Staff Patrol are there to help you get the job done. You are responsible for the whole troop, but you cannot and must not do all the work. You must figure out how to give other people jobs that they like and can perform well, and make sure they actually get done. Of course, the responsibility is always yours, no matter how much you give it to someone else.

Your most important job is to lead, by behaving in such a way that people will follow you because they trust you and believe that you know what needs to be done. To do that you must understand the goals and objectives of the troop, within the scouting movement. You must know the purpose of  Scouting, and how our Troop goes about meeting that purpose. You must know the strengths and weaknesses of the scouts, particularly the leaders, and work with them and help them learn and grow while they are getting the job done in their own assignments.

The Patrol Leaders are the foundation of the troop. They are the keys to success and failure of the troop and of the individual scouts. They will need most of your time, because they are young and have little or no experience in leadership. With your help and counsel, they will quickly learn to do the job right. Assign jobs and use the ASPL and the Staff Patrol as your assistants, but don't ever let them or anything else get between you and the Patrol Leaders. You are their leader, and you must know each other personally. Talk to them often, you will soon figure out where they need help.

You are also the link with the adult leaders. The adults are there to support you, not to be your boss. If you understand what needs to be done, take charge, make good decisions and get the job done with the help of your staff, you will be in control. If you don't, then the adults will have to step in and do the work. If that happens, discuss it with the adult(s) and find out why it did. If you can make it a scout job, that's how it will be.

As a leader, you are also an example and role model for younger scouts. What you do will make a much bigger impression on them than anything you say. Live by the Scout Oath and Law. Wear you uniform correctly. Participate with enthusiasm in Devon 50 activities.

Be someone you would look up to.