Goodtalk
Goodtalk

Wood Badge Reflection Questions

Leading young people asks a lot, and there is rarely time to stop and think about why you do it. These cards are for leaders on Wood Badge training, in a leader team or alone with a notebook. They move from first memories of scouting to duty to yourself, to others and to what you believe in, and what it means to be a role model.

Good for: Scout leaders on Wood Badge training, leader teams and anyone reflecting on their own leadership.

Play 70 cards

Tips for playing

  • Answer a card in your notebook before you talk about it.
  • Talk in pairs or in your Wood Badge patrol rather than in the whole group.
  • Take the deep cards slowly. It's fine to come back to one later.

Depth: lightLight questions

Easy to start with. Good for warming up.

  1. What made you become a scout leader in the first place?
  2. Which leader did you have as a kid, and what did they get right?
  3. What do you look forward to most when you head to a scout meeting?
  4. Which scouting memory do you often find yourself going back to?
  5. Which scout skill have you needed somewhere completely different in life?
  6. Which part of being a leader comes completely naturally to you?
  7. What was your first thought when you signed up for Wood Badge?
  8. What do you hope to take home from the course?
  9. How do you like to recharge after a long camp?
  10. When did you last laugh really hard with your scouts?
  11. What small everyday thing makes you glad to be a leader?
  12. What do you think your scouts would say you're good at?
  13. What's the best idea you've borrowed from another leader?
  14. What advice did you get as a new leader that you still use?
  15. What can you do that few people in your group know about?
  16. Which word would you use to describe the way you lead, and why?
  17. When do you leave a scout meeting with more energy than you came with?
  18. What's the best thing a scout has ever said to you?
  19. Which part of preparing for a trip do you take most seriously?
  20. Which part of the course so far got you thinking the most?

Depth: mediumA bit more personal

For when the conversation is flowing.

  1. When did you last learn something from one of your scouts?
  2. What do you do to look after yourself so you still have something to give?
  3. What gives you calm and meaning when leading starts to feel heavy?
  4. When has helping others changed you?
  5. What's the difference between helping someone and taking the responsibility away from them?
  6. When have you handed over a task, even though you could have done it faster yourself?
  7. How do you say no to a task in your group without feeling guilty?
  8. What have you learned from a trip that went completely differently than planned?
  9. How do you give a fellow leader feedback so it actually gets heard?
  10. When has a fellow leader told you something that was hard to hear but true?
  11. What makes a leader team good to be part of?
  12. What's the smallest action that still counts?
  13. How do we make sure our group isn't only for the people who already fit in?
  14. When have you changed your mind after talking with a young scout?
  15. What do you do when a scout doesn't want to take part?
  16. When did you last apologize to a scout?
  17. What does being a role model mean to you?
  18. Which duty comes easiest to you: to yourself, to others or to what you believe in?
  19. What do you do to keep learning as a leader?
  20. Which difficult conversation as a leader have you learned the most from?
  21. How do you keep your enthusiasm when there are few leaders and lots to do?
  22. What have you gained from meeting scouts from other troops, councils or countries?
  23. What has your Wood Badge patrol given you that you didn't expect?
  24. How do you give young people a real say when you already have a plan?
  25. What would it take for you to let your scouts fail?
  26. How do you support a scout who's struggling without taking on too much yourself?
  27. How do you keep an idea from the course alive once everyday life in the group takes over?
  28. How has your view of leading changed since you started?
  29. How does your group celebrate the things that go well?
  30. What do you need from your fellow leaders that you rarely ask for?

Depth: deepDeep questions

Take your time. These are the ones people remember.

  1. When have you been a role model without knowing it, and when weren't you?
  2. What do you stand for as a leader that you won't compromise on?
  3. What would you like to have passed on by the day you step down as a leader?
  4. When does your duty to others become an excuse not to look after yourself?
  5. What do you do when your own values and your group's decision pull in different directions?
  6. What do you believe in, and how does it show in the way you lead?
  7. Which side of yourself do you rarely show as a leader, and what would happen if you did?
  8. When have you felt you weren't enough as a leader, and what did you take away from it?
  9. What would you do differently as a leader if no one saw it or praised you for it?
  10. What do you hope your scouts will remember about you in twenty years?
  11. What are you afraid of losing if you stepped back from scouting?
  12. What gives your life meaning outside scouting, and does it get enough room?
  13. When have you held back from stepping in, and was it the right call?
  14. What kind of people do you find hardest to lead, and what does that say about you?
  15. What are you carrying as a leader that you'd like to share with someone?
  16. How does the person you are as a leader fit with the person you are the rest of the week?
  17. When have you said something out loud as a leader that no one else dared to say?
  18. If you started over as a leader, what would you do differently?
  19. Where in your life outside scouting would you like to make a difference?
  20. What does "Try and leave this world a little better than you found it" mean to you today?

70 cards in this deck.