AY Honors/Leading a wilderness trip

This is where all that knowledge is put to use. Wilderness camping is different from "camp ground" camping and offers the Pathfinder many opportunities to practice group dynamics, responsibility, and build self-confidence. A well-organized trip is a joy to experience, whereas an ill-organized one can be a seemingly unending series of mishaps and misery.

As the leader, it is important that you do not do all the doing. The other participants will feel that they are merely so much luggage and begin to act as if they have no responsibilities. One of the most difficult lessons I have learned as a leader is that a leader should really step back and lead rather than jump in and do. When doing instead of leading, it is too easy to become absorbed in the task at hand and lose track of the overall picture. While you're busy doing, other people finish their tasks, and you're too busy to give them their next assignment. Rather, you as the leader should direct the activities of the others. Know what needs to be done next, and assign someone to do it. If they are having trouble, help them, but do not take over. If helping them becomes too involved, assign someone else to help them.

As you see that others are completing their tasks, figure out what they should do next. If you see someone slacking off and not pulling their weight, gently remind them to concentrate on the current task.

By directing instead of doing, you will ensure that the group is working at peak efficiency, and the work at hand will be done more quickly and effectively, leaving more time for the group to enjoy the wilderness. Otherwise, you may find that you are the only one doing the work for the entire group. You will be exhausted, the work will take ten times longer, and when it's done, you will find that the others may have become rowdy and unruly. Your energy will already have been expended, and you might not deal with the poor behavior (that you partially caused) in a Christian manner.

If you find you cannot resist the doing, try bringing a clipboard and a pen and do not put them down. It's pretty hard to anchor a tent with a clipboard in your hand. The clipboard will not only serve as a reminder, it will also serve as extra memory. As you think of things that need to be done, write them down. As people capable of these tasks become available, assign them.

You may find it more effective to assign tasks to small groups of people, but choose the groups wisely. Best friends have a tendency to goof off. When I was a teen, my brother and I had been hired by an uncle to do some farm work. When we suggested that he should also hire our other brother, he responded with this gem that I will never forget:

"A boy's a boy, two boys are half a boy, and three boys is no boy at all."

I understand that far better now than I did when he said it. Knowing about this tendency will enable you to head it off so you don't have to work against it. Assign juniors to teens, and assign teens to adult mentors. Go over this with the teens ahead of time so that they will have an idea of what they are to teach the juniors to do as they do it. This will not only introduce the juniors to new knowledge, but it will reinforce it in your teens.