CHAPTER IV
When should a leader lead?
The answer is simple - Always.
 | He leads in games by being captain of the team (the team being, wherever possible, the Patrol). |
| He leads in work, in all cases by supervision, and as often as possible by instruction. |
| He leads in general authority, by being privileged to attend the Court of Honor, by being chairman of his "Patrol in Council," and by being organizer of competitive work for the Patrol Competitions. |
A great deal is done to accentuate his authority by furnishing him with one of the Patrol Report Forms made out by the Chief Scout, and now sold at Headquarters. This is a form which is to be signed every week by the Patrol Leader, stating whether his Scouts have been present or absent on parades, whether they have each taken at least four Scout exercises (explained on the form), and expecting him to see that the members of his Patrol carry out the general rules of physical health and personal service, which are so fully explained by the Chief Scout in Scouting for Boys.
Apart from these things, the Leader has many methods of increasing his own authority. One of them is by knowing the parents of all the boys in his Patrol, and by knowing where the members of his Patrol are at work, and what are their prospects and opportunities. He may further increase his authority by developing original and resourceful ideas which are eagerly carried out by his brother Scouts. For instance, a Leader of the Lions in London may take his Patrol off to the Zoological Gardens to practice their Patrol call, while a Leader in the country may hear that a road is flooded and may take his Patrol one evening to clear out the blocked pipe or gutter which is the cause of the trouble.
A Patrol Leader can also do good in his Patrol by reading them part of "The Scout" every week, and especially by taking the Chiefs remarks as his text and by pushing their teaching home in his own way.
