Everything I Needed to Know about Leadership I Learned in the Boy Scouts
Publication: Leadership and Management in Engineering
Volume 9, Issue 4
Abstract
Leadership is one of the most important skills an engineer can possess in the twenty-first century. A Google search on the term “leadership” yields more than 170,000,000 hits indicating it is one of the most written about and discussed management concerns. This paper describes the Boy Scout program, which is one of the best leadership programs in the world and begins to teach boys to be leaders at age 11. Many leaders of business, government, and education have indicated that the Boy Scout program was one of the most important experiences in their lives, one that impacted their thinking and actions throughout their careers. The article ends with a modest proposal of ways the Boy Scouts, civil engineering departments, and ASCE can collaborate to train future leaders of the profession.
In 1988, Robert Fulghum wrote a book entitled All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. He developed the following skills, or behavioral patterns, at an early age: share everything; play fair; don’t hit people; put things back where you found them; clean up your own mess; don’t take things that aren’t yours; say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody; wash your hands before you eat; flush; warm cookies and cold milk are good for you; live a balanced life—learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some; take a nap every afternoon; when you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together; be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that; goldfish and hamsters and white mice, and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup—they all die. So do we. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned—the biggest word of all—LOOK.
He wrote, “Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all—the whole world—had cookies and milk at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.” (Fulghum 1986) These behavioral patterns, if practiced, generally lead to a happy and fulfilled life, and yet like many things learned at a young age, they are often not carried through to adulthood.
This paper describes a similar set of behavioral patterns, codes of behavior, and leadership skills that are taught by the Boy Scouts of America and that stick with individuals throughout their lives. G. Wayne Clough, a leader in engineering education, and currently secretary of the Smithsonian Institution noted that the key attributes of good leadership are, “The importance of being rounded in the concept of service to your fellow man, knowing how to inspire people to achieve high goals, and doing the right thing.” He further noted, “Civil engineers have not been taught to be leaders,” and that “We need to help civil engineers learn about leadership during their undergraduate education and beyond” (Reid 2009). This paper describes some methods that would enable ASCE to be in the forefront of training students and practicing engineers to be good leaders who “do the right thing.”
The Scouting Movement
The father of the worldwide scouting movement was Lord Baden-Powell. He was an officer in the British Army, was stationed in Africa, and fought in the Boer War defending the fort at Mafeking. While there, he wrote a manual, Aids to Scouting, in which he described how he was able to infiltrate enemy lines and bring back important information to his army. This book, while written for young army recruits, was read as well by many boys. In 1907 he rewrote the book for boys and opened a camp at Brownsea Island to test out his ideas. If was from this that the Boy Scout movement began. He, along with Ernest Seton and Dan Beard, both from the United States, encouraged its spread throughout the world. Seton founded a boys’ program called the Woodcraft Indians in 1902 and visited England in 1904, where he met with Baden-Powell and gave him a copy of the Woodcraft Indian manual. Seton wrote of this visit, “I went to England to carry on the work [of fostering a “Woodcraft and Scouting movement”] there, and, knowing General R. S. S. Baden-Powell as the chief advocate of scouting in the British Army, invited him to cooperate with me in making the movement popular. Accordingly, in 1908 he [Powell] organized his Boy Scout movement, incorporating the principles of the [Woodcraft] Indians with other ethical features bearing on savings banks, fire drills, etc., as well as by giving it a partly military organization, and a carefully compiled and fascinating book.” When William Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in 1910, Seton merged his Woodcraft Indians with the new organization and became the BSA’s first Chief Scout (from 1910 to 1915). Daniel Carter Beard founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905 and became a national commissioner, and to many, the face of the BSA. The aim of the BSA was to teach boys the skills of living in the out of doors within a form of military structure. Its aim was to train boys in responsible citizenship, character development, and self-reliance by using the BSA to inculcate values such as honesty, good citizenship, and outdoors skills, through a variety of activities such as camping, aquatics, and hiking.
The aim of the Boy Scout program is still character training and helping boys become independent persons who are helpful to other people. The Scout method by which this aim is achieved involves giving challenges, which a Scout learns to solve by himself. The emphasis on “learning by doing” provides hands-on experiences to enhance learning and confidence building. Small group activities build unity and develop responsibility, character, self-reliance, self-confidence, reliability, and readiness. In summary, a Scout is trained to be independent and show leadership using the Scout Oath and Scout Law to promote positive goals, all under the example of dedicated adult leaders.
In order for the reader to understand my perspective, it is important to know the role scouting played in my life. The story began in 1947 when I first entered the Boy Scouts in a very small village in upstate New York. With a population of only 550, almost every boy chose to join the Boy Scouts and we met Tuesday evenings at the community hall. Our Scoutmaster was Earl Walker, who had recently retuned from fighting in World War II. He was a janitor at the local schools, and he was one of the most committed men I ever met. He almost single handedly ran the troop and set the tone of what it meant to be a Boy Scout. He created an environment in which a boy wanted to go camping, learn Scouting skills, and advance through the ranks. I attended summer camp for several years and in August 1951 earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the first one in my troop to do so. It was, and remains, one of my most memorable achievements. I served as senior patrol leader and later as junior assistant Scoutmaster. I attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to study civil engineering and while there I joined Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity, largely made up of former Boy Scouts. The fraternity mission was “to prepare campus and community leaders through service.” Our purpose was “to develop leadership, to promote friendship, and to provide service to humanity.” Our motto: “Be a leader, be a friend, be of service.” It was, therefore, an extension of Boy Scout values. After engineering school and earning a Ph.D., I became a college professor at Merrimack College. On one my first Sundays in Andover, Massachusetts, my wife and four children attended mass after which the troop sponsored by the church had a pancake breakfast outside. I told the Scoutmaster that I was an Eagle Scout, and he recruited me on the spot. I told him I had a young family and a new job and was not sure how much I could contribute. A month later I was an assistant Scoutmaster. Several years later he died suddenly, and I found myself the Scoutmaster. Between 1965 and 1979 I served as assistant Scoutmaster and Scoutmaster of Troop 79. I was awarded the Silver Beaver in 1975. My two oldest sons earned the Eagle rank in my troop and my oldest daughter the Girl Scout equivalent of Eagle in a troop led by my wife. In 1979 I moved to Union College and became assistant Scoutmaster in Glenville and later Alplaus, New York. In 1985 I returned to Merrimack College, and renewed my connection with Troop 79 as assistant Scoutmaster and later as Scoutmaster. My third son became an Eagle Scout, and my two older sons were my assistant Scoutmasters. In 1987 I was honored as a Distinguished Eagle Scout. My association with the Boy Scouts of America over the decades has always shaped my actions, as I tried to live my life in accordance with the values it taught me. Since Scouting had done so much for me, it was natural that I give back in accordance with St. Luke, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded” (Luke 12:48) and the concept of noblesse oblige. I have noticed that those who embrace the values of scouting learn leadership by being leaders later on in a life lived in accordance with those values.
When have we needed the scouting values more than now, in this age of apparent self-gratification, greed, apathy, and lowering standards? Smug people, the self-proclaimed intellectual elite, take pride in sneering at the Boy Scouts and make fun of what they characterize as its old-fashioned ideals and goals. A common phrase they use is, “He’s such a Boy Scout,” when they want to be disparaging of a person whose conduct is based on a well-formed personal code of behavior and whose actions exceed normal expectations. The Boy Scout program is not perfect but the world would be a much better place if more young boys and girls were exposed to and accepted the scouting values, and incorporated them into their lives.
In summary, the BSA program gives a boy:A system of values that lasts a lifetime;A sense of the importance of service to God, country, and others;A program to help them be physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight;Skills training leading to enhanced confidence;Exposure to adult leaders committed to the scouting values; andLeadership training.
Leadership
Leadership has been defined and described in many ways. A leader can be described as a person who can influence others to accomplish a goal or objective resulting in an organization that is more effective. Some of the necessary attributes of a leader are beliefs, values, ethics, trustworthiness, character, knowledge, and skills. While it may seem that some people are natural leaders, is has been shown that most people choose to become leaders and take the necessary training to develop leadership skills. The Scouting program begins that training early in the Scout’s involvement by immersing him in an organization that stresses leadership and the importance of being a good follower. A good follower is a person who cheerfully does more than is asked for or expected by his leaders. He is the kind of Scout who when asked to search for firewood agrees on the spot without moaning. Other Scouts seeing this Scout’s willingness to do more than his share see a potential leader for the patrol. My experience indicates that Scouts, or former Scouts, are more willing to volunteer for projects that serve the public, their church, and community. It is this type of follower who will ultimately rise to leadership positions because service is a part of his character. I frequently use the following saying in talks on ethics:Sow a thought, reap an act.Sow an act, reap a habit.Sow a habit, reap a character.Sow a character, reap a destiny.Scouting, and its commitment to service and duty, exemplifies the thoughts in that saying. Scouts have, through their experience, developed the character it describes and are in the process of reaping a destiny. The Boy Scout program accomplishes its goal of training leaders and good citizens by:
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Establishing a troop organization that provides chances for leadership at both the patrol and troop level.
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Setting up an advancement program that leads a boy to achieve many skills rising to the ranks of Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class. This achievement results in greater confidence in his abilities to meet new challenges.
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Setting up a merit badge program to challenge the boys in certain required areas, and Star and Life ranks to develop leadership skills.
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Establishing a top rank of Eagle Scout which requires a project including the organization and leadership of fellow Scouts, adults, volunteers, etc.
Scouting Values
The values of Scouting are contained in the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Scout Motto, Scout Slogan and the Pledge of Allegiance. The Scout Oath is:On my honor I will do my best;To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;To help other people at all times;To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
It stresses that a Scout has a duty to God and country, to other people, and to himself—sometimes called the three points of the Scout Oath. The three-fingered salute and Scout Sign is a reminder of these three points.
The Scout Law consists of 12 parts and is generally recited starting with, “A Scout is . . .” Those points and a brief description follow:
Trustworthy—A Scout tells the truth. He keeps his promises. Honesty is part of his code of conduct. People can depend on him.
Loyal—A Scout is true to his family, Scout leaders, friends, school, and nation.
Helpful—A Scout is concerned about other people. He does things willingly for others without pay or reward.
Friendly—A Scout is a friend to all. He is a brother to other Scouts. He seeks to understand others. He respects those with ideas and customs other than his own.
Courteous—A Scout is polite to everyone regardless of age or position. He knows good manners make it easier for people to get along together.
Kind—A Scout understands there is strength in being gentle. He treats others as he wants to be treated. He does not hurt or kill harmless things without reason.
Obedient—A Scout follows the rules of his family, school, and troop. He obeys the laws of his community and country. If he thinks these rules and laws are unfair, he tries to have them changed in an orderly manner rather than disobey them.
Cheerful—A Scout looks for the bright side of things. He cheerfully does tasks that come his way. He tries to make others happy.
Thrifty—A Scout works to pay his way and to help others. He saves for unforeseen needs. He protects and conserves natural resources. He carefully uses time and property.
Brave—A Scout can face danger even if he is afraid. He has the courage to stand for what he thinks is right even if others laugh at or threaten him.
Clean—A Scout keeps his body and mind fit and clean. He goes around with those who believe in living by these same ideals. He helps keep his home and community clean.
Reverent—A Scout is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties. He respects the beliefs of others.
Think what a great society we would have if the words “A Scout is” was replaced with “All citizens are…” or “All civil engineers are….” The Scout Motto, “Be prepared” reminds the boy that if he is to be a leader he must always be prepared to act in an emergency. He becomes prepared by completing the advancement program. The Scout Slogan is “Do a good turn daily.”
The Scout Oath and Scout Law, along with the Pledge of Allegiance, are recited at the beginning and end of every meeting to remind the boys of what it means to be a Boy Scout. When they appear before a Board of Review, the boys are generally asked what the Oath and Law mean to them. Scouting values, as expressed by the Oath and Law, are not just window dressing but an integral part of the program and are repeated frequently to remind the boys of their obligation as Scouts.
Troop Organization
The basic building block in the Boy Scout organization is the patrol. All Scouts entering a troop are assigned to a patrol that has a patrol leader and an assistant patrol leader who have been elected by patrol members. They generally are elected as their fellow patrol members have seen them being good followers who embrace the Scout Oath, Law, Promise, and Slogan.
The senior patrol leader, also elected, serves as head of the troop. He runs the meetings with counsel of the Scoutmaster and assistant Scoutmasters. The junior assistant Scoutmaster is generally a boy who has been senior patrol leader. He serves as an adviser to the senior patrol leader.
The Scoutmaster is a volunteer who, may or may not have been a Boy Scout, but who has incorporated Scouting values in his life, work, and family. He works with the senior patrol leader, the troop committee, and sponsoring institution, to ensure an effective running of the troop. One of the most important functions of a Scoutmaster is conducting a Scoutmaster’s conference with every boy who is preparing for a Board of Review prior to a rank change. In this conference the Scoutmaster and boy talk about the boy’s advancement and goals for the future. It is also a time in which scouting values are discussed.
The Advancement Program
The first ranks each boy can move through are Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class. There are numerous requirements for these ranks and the patrol leader or other troop leader certifies all advancement requirements. The Scoutmaster conference gives the boy and Scoutmaster the opportunity to review advancement requirements, discuss the Scout Oath and Law, and sets goals for future advancement. Adult members of the troop committee and/or assistant Scoutmasters conduct the Board of Review which starts with a recitation by the boy of the Scout Oath and Scout Law. This review requires the boy to orally interact with a group of adults and is one of the few times he will be evaluated on his ability to verbalize his thoughts and goals in front of adults.
The highest rank a boy can achieve is the Eagle, which is currently achieved by only 5 percent of all boys entering Scouting. The Eagle Scout project is a major requirement involving planning, fund raising, organization, and leadership. The Board of Review is held at the council level in front of a group of adult leaders who have been assigned the task of evaluating the readiness of the boy. All Eagle Boards of Review include a discussion about the Scout Oath and Scout Law and how they fit into his life. Upon successful completion, the Review Board members discuss the importance of service and giving back to the community as an Eagle Scout. Boys with this commitment to Scouting values and service are just the kind of young men we want in our engineering schools. This is the only rank that remains with the boy throughout his adult life, and the saying, “Once an Eagle, always an Eagle” is, in my experience, absolutely true.
In summary, the BSA and its methods, give boys values that last a lifetime and a spirit of service and leadership training that makes them adult leaders in society. For instance, 26 of the first 29 astronauts were Eagle Scouts, and approximately 80 percent of all students at our major military academies were members of the Boy Scouts. If ASCE is looking for leaders in the future, they should start with boys who have been Boy Scouts. How can the civil engineering profession attract the best and brightest? A modest proposal follows.
Future Leaders of the Profession
If the civil engineering profession wants to attract the best and brightest to become its leaders, we must be more proactive in developing programs that expose students to the profession at an early age.
Boy Scouts of America
If the necessary attributes of a leader are “beliefs, values, ethics, trustworthiness, character, knowledge, and skills,” or as Clough stated, “being rounded in the concept of service to your fellow man, knowing how to inspire people to achieve high goals, and doing the right thing,” is there any other organization in the United States that has been established to promote these attributes as effectively as the Boy Scouts of America? To take young boys at age 11 and move them through the program to age 18 results in the most comprehensive leadership program in the country. Unfortunately, the proliferation of youth soccer, baseball, hockey, and other sports, place demands on a young person’s time that frequently works against his involvement in Scouting.
If civil engineers are looking to find ways to enhance the profession, I suggest that the first place they look is the Scouting program. Surveys have shown that Scouting has significantly increased boys’ interest in engineering. Since these same boys do much better in school, they are prime sources of future engineers if only our professional societies, and their members, implement outreach programs that promote interaction.
While the Boy Scouts and its Varsity Scouting program (ages 14–18) are for boys only, the Venturing program is for young men and young women between the ages of 14 and 20. It effectively replaced the Explorer program and “utilizes extreme outdoor adventure as the method for building character, peer-to-peer bonds, and independence.” Its goal is to help some of our most motivated and service-oriented young people learn to make ethical choices over their lifetimes by instilling the values in the Venturing Oath and Code. It has five main goals to help the Scout to:
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Accept and meet new challenges;
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Make independent decisions and choices;
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Make important contributions to a team effort;
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Make ethically, morally and spiritually sound decisions;
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Contribute something of value through service to a community or family.
The program is set up around a “crew” philosophy where all members of the crew share a common interest and/or goal. While many crews are outdoor oriented, a crew can be set up around a civil engineering theme and be sponsored by engineering firms, college civil engineering departments, and/or construction firms and suppliers. Since ASCE has seen its female membership rise to 11 percent, the Venturing program would enable the profession to attract young women as well. Any section of ASCE—and possibly with a local engineering college—could sponsor such a crew and involve Scouts and young people in Venturing in activities, field trips, etc. They could also set up a mentoring program.
In addition, engineers as Scoutmasters, Varsity, or Venturing advisors, or merit badge counselors would not only attract more young men and women to engineering but would merge needs of the profession with the needs of society to help young men and women become leaders of the future. Civil engineers are, by training, well qualified to teach several merit badges including: drafting, computers, engineering, geology, landscape architecture, railroading, soil and water conservation, surveying, and traffic safety. They could also become counselors for the citizenship badges. A program to match civil engineers with local councils and the merit badge program would be of benefit not only to the boys and Scouting, but the profession as well.
In summary, a greater involvement of practicing civil engineers with boys in the Scouting program would result in a win-win situation. If this involvement was organized and promoted it would provide leaders the profession and society needs in the future: leaders with values, a service mentality, and leadership skills learned in the Boy Scouts of America. Leaders who are “physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.”
Civil Engineering Departments
Leadership is not taught or emphasized in our high schools or colleges, so if the ASCE wants to encourage its members to take on leadership roles, not only in the profession, but also in politics and community organizations, it has to encourage colleges and universities to do more in promoting a culture of service. Departments may want to display the philosophy of Vitruvius, a first century AD architect who wrote, “As for philosophy, it makes the architect (insert civil engineer) high-minded and not self-assuming, but rather renders him courteous, just, and honest without avariciousness. This is very important, for no work can be rightly done without honesty and incorruptibility. Let him not be grasping nor have his mind preoccupied with the idea of receiving perquisites, but let him with dignity keep up his position by cherishing a good reputation.” In 1868, after being elected as an honorary member of ASCE, John B. Jervis described the environment in which the civil engineer practiced, and which is not much different today. He wrote in an early Transactions paper, “The engineer eminently depends on character. The interests of others, in various ways, are committed to him. On his capacity for his profession, and his integrity as a man, reliance must be placed. He will meet many difficulties of a physical and not a few of moral nature.” (Jervis 1869)
General Douglas MacArthur stated in his famous farewell speech to the cadets, “Duty, Honor, Country—those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn” (MacArthur 1962). Duty, Honor, Country—these words and intent are much like the words in the Scout Oath and should serve as the basis of a system of values for the leaders of the civil engineering profession.
Adopting the West Point Honor Code “I will not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do” would be a good beginning to impress upon a student the importance of developing a good character and becoming trustworthy. West Point says of this Code, “West Point’s core mission is to develop leaders of character for our Army. A leader of character knows what is right, and possesses the moral courage to act on that knowledge. The principles of truthfulness, fairness, respect for others, and a personal commitment to maintaining values constitute that fundamental ideal known as the Spirit of the Code. A leader of character will apply the Spirit of the Code when making decisions involving ethical dilemmas.” Perhaps our civil engineering departments should adopt and enforce a similar honor code: students would become aware that a little lie, a little cheating, or a little stealing can become a habit that would follow them throughout their careers as engineers and lead to bigger lies, more cheating, and more stealing. At the first orientation meeting of engineering students, the department chair might have a discussion with the class about what is expected of them as practicing engineers in terms of trustworthiness and how they must adhere to a code of behavior based upon the West Point Code. If we start our students off with an open discussion of ethics and what it takes to earn the public trust, and keep up the discussion throughout the undergraduate years, we will graduate students who are “morally straight.”
Teaching students to be “mentally awake,” seems to me to be the only part of the Scout Oath that colleges want to undertake. They would argue that other institutions must handle the “morally straight” and “physically strong” parts. And yet with the exception of Scouting and some churches, institutions have not been successful in developing and creating programs for the development of character and integrity. That being the case, many students are coming into the profession without a well-formed character, without a commitment to service, and without a background that makes them a leader.
How can civil engineering departments improve this situation? The student chapters of ASCE provide an opportunity for a limited number of student members to be involved in leadership of the chapter. A faculty advisor is available to guide students in their duties, but little leadership training is offered and chapter officers frequently are on their own to conduct themselves as they see fit. Community service projects are encouraged, but a large majority of chapters do not build service into their program. Upon graduation, student members become associate members of the Society and are encouraged to participate in leadership positions in the local section, but few take advantage of this opportunity. If civil engineering departments wanted to train leaders of the future, they must do more to instill in students a greater appreciation of the concepts of noblesse oblige and the principles in the Scout Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan. The place to start is at college—in the curriculum and the student chapter program.
Maybe, as a start to incorporating some of the Scouting method, every meeting of a student chapter (or section meeting) should start with a group recitation of a variation of the Preamble to the revised Code of Ethics I recommended in the Journal of Professional Issues (Griggs 2009):
As a civil engineer I recognize my work has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life of the people I serve. I will use my professional knowledge and skill in service to the public, my employer, and clients. I will practice my profession with honesty, impartiality, and fairness, living and working according to the laws of man and the highest standards of ethical conduct. I will participate in none but honest enterprise, place service before excessive profit, integrity before personal advantage, and public health, safety, and welfare above all others.
Many students and professionals may object to this as an infringement on their autonomy, but it would be a way of reminding all civil engineers that they are a part of a profession where they must, by their actions, first earn and then retain the trust of the public. They must, in other words, be trustworthy.
ASCE
ASCE provides forums in which limited numbers of younger members attend to help train the current and future section leaders. ASCE has discussed leadership as follows, “In this new century, the engineering manager must not only be technically competent, but must possess leadership skills to move his organization forward. The need for leadership skills is particularly important in this time of change and expansion of new technology. The most successful, technically competent engineers often move into positions of leadership, but the characteristics that earned them those positions are often the very characteristics—independent achievement and focused technical interest—that will hurt them as leaders.” Unfortunately ASCE apparently considers leadership to be a tack-on to whatever values the potential leader brings to this leadership training.
The Raising the Bar effort by ASCE does little to enhance the ethical or leadership training of our students. It states under Outcome 20, Leadership: Knowledge Define leadership and the role of a leader. List leadership principles and attitudes. Under Comprehension it states, Explain the role of leader and leadership principles and attitudes. Under Application it states, Apply leadership principles to direct the efforts of a small, homogeneous group. Under Analysis it states, Organize and direct the efforts of a group. Under Synthesis it states, Create a new organization to accomplish a complex task. Under Evaluation it states, Evaluate the leadership of an organization. It states under Outcome 24-Professional and ethical responsibility: Knowledge, List the professional and ethical responsibilities of a Civil Engineer. Comprehension, Explain the professional and ethical responsibilities of a civil engineer, Application, Apply standards of professional and ethical responsibilities to determine an appropriate course of action. Analysis, Analyze a situation involving multiple conflicting professional and ethical interests to determine an appropriate course of action. Synthesis, Synthesize studies and experiences to foster professional and ethical conduct. And finally Evaluation, Justify a solution to an engineering problem based upon professional and ethical standards and assess personal, professional and ethical development. (ASCE Body of Knowledge Committee 2008)
I believe these outcomes treat ethics and leadership as processes that have little to do with an individual’s values and attitudes. It is, however, just these skills that leaders of the engineering community, and the greater community in which the engineer works and serves, that are needed. As long as we consider leadership a process, and not a metanoia or change in heart, or a rigid adherence to a code of behavior, training of our future leaders will be a cosmetic exercise that ensures technical competence but not “morally straight” leaders.
Summary
I am not stating that the only way to be a good leader is through the Boy Scouts program. I am stating, however, that a boy who has incorporated the Scouting values in his life has a greater likelihood of becoming a good leader as an adult. This is especially true if the boy or young adult stays in Scouting and attains the rank of Eagle Scout. I am not implying that I have risen to the highest level of being a big fish in a big pond. I have, however, by building on my Scouting roots and leadership training, risen to being a pretty good size fish in the many small ponds of my profession, community, and church.
ASCE and our civil engineering departments would be well advised to embark on a program to build on the foundations laid by the Scouting and Venturing programs to train future leaders of the profession. Unfortunately tacking leadership training onto individuals who have not developed a value system will not make the individual an effective leader. What employers, society, and the civil engineering profession are looking for in its leaders is integrity.
References
ASCE Body of Knowledge Committee. (2008). Civil engineering body of knowledge for the 21st century: Preparing the civil engineer for the future. ASCE Press, Reston, Va.
Reid, R. L. (2009). “Guiding critical infrastructure.” Civ. Eng. Mag., 79(2), 54.
Fulghum, R. (1988). All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten. Villard Books, New York.
Griggs, F., Jr. (2009). “A new look at the Code of Ethics.” Journal of Professional Issues, 135(1), 40.
Jervis, J. B. (1869). “Address given to the first annual convention held June 16, 1869.” Transactions ASCE, 1, 137.
MacArthur, D. (1962). “Duty, Honor, Country.” Farewell address to the cadets of West Point, ⟨http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Duty,_honor,_country⟩.
Biographies
Francis E. Griggs Jr., is professor emeritus at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
Information & Authors
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Published In
Leadership and Management in Engineering
Volume 9 • Issue 4 • October 2009
Pages: 198 - 204
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 14, 2009
Accepted: Jun 30, 2009
Published online: Sep 15, 2009
Published in print: Oct 2009
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