Values, Mission, and Vision (Troop Presentation)
Learning Objectives
As a result of this session, participants will
■ Understand what is meant by values, mission, and vision.
■ Review the values, mission, and vision of Scouting.
■ Consider values, mission, and vision in the context of leadership.
■ Learn about the Wood Badge ticket.
■ Begin writing their own Wood Badge tickets based on their personal values
and vision.
Introduction: A Story of Values, Mission, and Vision
As the legend is told, in the 1300s at Cambridge University in England, a chapel
was constructed for one of the colleges. The vaulted roof was supported by huge
beams fashioned from old-growth oak.
Seven hundred years later, the beams had so deteriorated that the roof was in danger of collapsing. The building required extensive renovation, including replacing
the beams. But where, in our time, could those repairing the building find giant
oak trees of such an age and quality as had been available to the original builders?
The answer lay right outside the chapel door. The original builders of the chapel
had known that at some point far in the future, the structure would need new
oak beams, and so they had planted acorns in the churchyard. Over the centuries, a grove of oak trees had grown to full maturity.
■ The vision of those chapel builders—to ensure the survival of the chapel—
extended hundreds of years into the future.
Ask the participants: Does anyone have a sample vision they would like to share?
Field answers from the participants.
Ask: How do you define vision? Summarize with, “Vision is a picture of future success.” This simple definition is what we teach our youth; it captures the essence of “vision.”
Here is the vision statement of the Boy Scouts of America:
The Boy Scouts of America will prepare every eligible youth in America to become a responsible, participating citizen and leader who is guided by the Scout Oath and Scout Law.
Values
Values are core beliefs or desires that guide or motivate our attitudes and actions. When surveys ask “what are the most important characteristics of a great leader,” that the person holds strong values is always mentioned. Values can take a variety of forms. For example:
■ Principles or Standards
“Service Above Self” (Rotary Club International)
“Do a Good Turn Daily”
■ Personal Qualities
Honesty
Loyalty
Ability to listen
■ Character Traits
Being organized
Enthusiasm
Openness to others
■ Codes of Ethics
Hippocratic Oath
Ten Commandments
BSA’s Outdoor Code
“Earlier today you gave thought to Scouting’s aims, ideals, and methods—the aims of the organization. The expressions of Scouting’s ideals are articulated most clearly in the Scout Oath and the Scout Law.”
“Acting in accord with our beliefs and values is one of the greatest challenges each of us faces every day. It’s true for individuals in all aspects of life . . . and equally true for organizations of every kind and size.”
—Eric Harvey and Alexander Lucia
Mission
A mission is the purpose of the organization—why the organization exists.
A mission is a calling to pursue long-term objectives that typically reflect or support the core values of an individual or an organization—it is the purpose of a person or an organization, or why the organization exists.
Routinely, an organization’s mission is formalized in a mission statement. A mission statement is often confused with a vision statement. For this course, we will use the following simple definitions.
Mission: Why we exist
Values: What we believe in and how we will behave
Vision: What success looks like
A brief corporate mission statement is often supported by a list of corporate values. “The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.”
—Mission Statement of the Boy Scouts of America
Vision
A vision is a picture of future success. Ask yourself, “What does success look like?”
A vision forms when we think far enough ahead to realize there will be important challenges that we can prepare for now, perhaps by doing something as simple as
planting a few acorns.
“Nothing happens unless first a dream.”—Carl Sandburg
“Part of your assignment before coming to this Wood Badge course was to think about your own vision of future success, especially as it relates to Scouting.
“Likewise, earlier today during the discussion of the aims of Scouting, you were asked to think of young people who are currently involved with Scouting and to imagine them years in the future.”
■ That’s how vision begins—thinking about what we can offer young people today through Scouting that will have a positive impact upon their lives in a decade, in 20 years, in 30 years, or more.
■ That’s a vision that challenges each of us to do something of value for the future. Through Scouting, that vision encourages each of us to plant acorns.
Consider these visions.
■ President John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1962: “We choose to go to the moon.”
(He challenged Americans to reach the moon within the decade.)
■ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., August 28, 1963: “I have a dream.”
(He envisioned a nation where children would be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.)
■ Lord Baden-Powell: Baden-Powell believed that a common moral code, shared by Scouts around the globe, eventually could lead to world peace.
What was Kennedy’s vision? (To land a man on the moon and safely return him to Earth by the end of the decade.)
What was Martin Luther King’s vision? (I have a dream that all men will be judged by the merit of their character, not by the color of their skin.)
Did they achieve their visions?
Baden-Powell’s Vision
Note: The presenter may wish to elaborate upon Baden-Powell’s vision. The following background material can be incorporated into this session to the degree the presenter feels is appropriate.
Baden-Powell served as a general during the Boer War, a campaign that was a dismal failure for the British military. Returning to England from Africa after the war, Baden-Powell began searching for ways to provide the British army with young men who were better prepared, both in character and ability, to serve their country. Through his books and the establishment of the Boy Scout movement, he felt he was succeeding in fulfilling that vision.
The first world jamboree took place in 1920. Baden-Powell was invited but was initially not enthused. He went anyway, and while he was there, his vision changed. Why? What had happened in recent English history? World War I had taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides of the lines. At the world jamboree, Baden-Powell saw boys from many nations living together in harmony. His vision for the future of Scouting evolved, and for the rest of his life he put his heart and soul into promoting the world brotherhood of Scouting. In 1937 there was a world jamboree in the Netherlands. Just before it opened, one nation sent word that its boys would not be attending. That nation was Germany. Scouting had been disbanded in Germany, and many of its members
had joined the Hitler Youth.
Baden-Powell died in 1941, greatly disappointed that he had not realized the fulfillment of his vision of a world brotherhood of Scouts living in peace. Did Baden-Powell’s vision die with him? No, of course not. To this day we continue to work toward that ideal.
Criteria for a Meaningful Vision
■ A vision engages the heart and spirit.
■ A vision leads toward a worthwhile goal.
■ A vision gives meaning to an effort.
■ A vision is simple.
■ A vision is attainable.
■ A vision can change over time.
Effective leaders have the capability to create compelling vision, but they must also be able to translate that vision into reality.
Vision Statement—Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America will prepare every eligible youth in America to
become a responsible, participating citizen and leader who is guided by
the Scout Oath and Scout Law.
From the draft of an essay titled “The Scout Promise and Law” in British Scout Archives, Box K, Scout Law, as quoted by Michael Rosenthal in The Character Factory, 1984, p. 111.