By Melissa Tompkins, ECC Future Leader

Have any of you recently been to a Boy Scout, Cub Scout or Girl Scout bridging ceremony? I have, and I have to say that there are some really key messages about leadership and involvement given to youth these days through these organizations. Some of these messages apply no matter what stage of your life you are in, especially when involved in a team.

Leadership skills such as character development, good citizenship, and personal achievement are being taught to Scouts as early as five years old. I myself have learned from these types of events, and understand, from my participation in groups like the ECC Future Leaders, the importance of being involved in a team that has regular meetings and accomplish projects to make the community a bit better, even if you are a youngster. Scouts get to work with others that don’t belong to the same everyday organization, and get to experience what it’s like to volunteer for and lead project tasks.

As was discussed in the ECC Future Leader Mid-Year meeting, there’s a lot to learn about leadership from Scouts. One of the speakers, Dr. Ivany, mentioned Francis Hesselbein who was the former CEO of the Girl Scouts as someone who’s emerged as a great leader. Ms. Hesselbein not only set an example of leadership, she was able to influence an entire organization by engaging others to adopt leadership traits.

I encourage you to check out what kinds of things these scouts are up to, you might be surprised what you can learn ‘from the younger generation’.