Eleven Skills of Leadership
The Boys Scouts of America approach
The Eleven Skills of Leadership was developed by Bela Banathy following an experimental programme he ran for the Monterey Bay Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He once said, "Lord Baden-Powell was my personal idol and I long felt a commitment to give back to Scouting what I had received."
He further developed his programme while studying for a master degree where his dissertation was entitled, "A Design for Leadership Development in Scouting". His programme became the White Stag programme and was then adopted by the Boy Scouts of America for both its adult and junior leader training courses and programmes.
Banathy's list of leadership skills are:
- Getting and Giving Information
- Understanding Group Needs and Characteristics
- Knowing and Understanding Group Resources
- Controlling the Group
- Counselling
- Setting the Example
- Representing the Group
- Planning
- Evaluation
- Sharing Leadership
- Manager of Learning
These skills form the basis of leadership development programmes completed by thousands of people (including adults and adolescents) every year, within Scouting and further afield.
The list is quite transactional in its nature, being largely based on interactions within the group. But as an introductory leadership framework it has had a big impact and raised the standard of leadership for many people.
References
Banathy, B.H. (1964), "Report on a Leadership Development Experiment", Monterey Bay Area Council, Monterey, California.
Banathy, B.H. (1969), "Leadership Development — World Scouting Reference Papers No. 1". World Organisation of the Scout Movement, Geneva, Switzerland.
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