The prestige of leadership

Being a PL is one of the greatest challenges in Scouting. It requires responsibility, social respect, knowledge, experience and of course leadership skills. Being a patrol leader gives you the chance to lead your patrol in activities, pass on your wisdom to your patrol members and make important decisions on how the troop is run.

The job of a PL is a very important one. This page is intended to tell you what it is all about, what you might need to do as a PL and if you are able to do it.

Your job

The responsibilities that you will be given as a PL you may not have experienced anywhere else before.

The first duty of the PL is to organise their patrol. They will need to lead it, keep it in order and make sure that all of patrol members are progressing and enjoying themselves. This will probably mean that you will be responsible for around 5 or 6 people other than yourself.

The PL also has the responsibility of seeking the ideas and views of their patrol about the troop and its activities. They will then pass these on the the Troop Leadership Forum to plan future activities and make changes to the way the troop is run. They will also be given responsibilities of organising or running events or activities discussed at the TLF.

The PL looks after their members right from their investiture through to completing challenges and teaching them new things. In order to do this, the PL needs to have the sufficient skills and experience.

These responsibilities can seem quite daunting at first. You might think to yourself that you haven't been trained to do these sorts of things. Don't worry about this though as when you settle into the role, you will be given support from the rest of the leadership and will probably find that you already have many of the qualities required.

How you lead your patrol will be different depending on the situation. Whatever happens though, your patrol will follow good leadership and be unhappy with bad leadership. Read any signals that they may give you. One of the best things to do is to lead by example. Behave and act as you would wish them to.

Summary

As discussed above the main responsibilities of a PL are to:

• Lead your Patrol.
• Help the members of your Patrol progress through their various challenges and awards.
• Represent the views of your Patrol.
• Participate in the Troop Leadership Forum and help run the troop.

Where do I get help if I am stuck?

If you get into a problem or situation which you believe you cannot sort out or need help with there is a lot of help out there:

• The Leaders - You have always got the Leaders for any type of problem. They have been trained to sort these things out and have a lot of experience.
• Other PLs & SPLs - Your fellow PLs & SPLs can be a very good help, especially if they have been in the job longer than you.
• Your APL and other APLs - They are meant to be you right hand man anyway! They are always good for support.
• Websites - If you don't know how to do something then this website and other sites linked to it can provide a lot of information.
• Friends & Parents - They are always willing and can give advice.

What should I do if I am duty Patrol Leader?

The responsibility of the duty Patrol Leader is to sort out the flag for the start and the end and your patrol must perform the flag break/down.

You do not have to run or organise the meeting but it is normally your duty to ensure that it runs smoothly.

What does the PL do during an investiture?

When it is a member of your Patrol

1. The troop will be brought to alert and will face the flag.
2. You will then escort the new member to the Leader
3. You then say "This is (new members name) and they would like to become a Scout"
4. The leader will then thank you after which you fall back in.

When it is a member of another Patrol

You may be asked to form part of the colour party whereby you hold the flag either side of the leader. If you are holding the troop flag, you will be asked to hold it horizontally so that the new recruit can put their hands on it. Make sure that no flag touches the floor.