When he looks at a boy he doesn’t see what most people see. He see the man that the boy can become. At every opportunity he tries to get that man to come out and realize his full potential. Now that is amazing but that is not all there is to it. It is how he does it that is the magic. I have seen him interrupt an adult mid-sentence who was talking over a boy to give that boy his full attention. He listens, really listens to what the boy says and gives the boy’s opinion or suggestion as much consideration as he would an adult. He also lets the boys make mistakes. This is key for we often learn more from our failures that from our successes. “Mistakes make the man” he says, how you react to your mistakes teaches much.
He is constantly pointing to Christ. When my grandfather died I was 17 and I was having problems at school and I felt completely and utterly empty. I remember my his words to me “Jesus is always with you and He will never leave you”. I clung to Christ with both hands and all of my heart. I could never have made it through that time without Christ.
This is not something you teach as much as you model. Here is what I have caught from my scoutmanster. Leadership is service. It is in the mundane things that leadership shows up. This is counter intuitive so stay with me. For example; If a young patrol leader was to sit on a tall stool and give orders and directive to his fellow scouts he may get some things accomplished but those whom he leads will bail on him the first time he ask his patrol to do something challenging and hard. Now the patrol leader that leads by serving that is a different story. A great patrol leader will work hard to help his patrol members reach their goals. He is willing to do the mundane and trivial in order to get the task accomplished. He is willing to do any of the jobs that he asks his guys to do. That is a leader that a boy will rally around and tackle the challenges no matter how hard because they are a team that knows their leader has got their back. Real leaders inspire, not just lead.