A few years ago I had the privilege of leading a team of talented volunteer Scouters from the Atlanta Area Council in designing and producing an extraordinary event to commemorate the Centenary of World Scouting’s founding.
On the morning of August 1st, 1907, Scouting’s Founder Robert Baden-Powell blew his kudu horn on England’s Brownsea Island to assemble twenty boys and begin a weeklong outdoor adventure that became known as the world’s first Scout camp.
100 years later to the day, every Scout, former Scout and volunteer leader throughout the world had a remarkable opportunity to observe the Centenary of World Scouting and look to the past, present and, most importantly, the future of Scouting.
Scouting’s Sunrise was celebrated – literally around the world – on August 1st, 2007. Throughout that day, at 08:00 local time in every country Scouts and former Scouts gathered together to renew their Scout Promise at the dawn of the second century of Scouting. The ongoing celebration represented a global opportunity to connect with the World of Scouting …Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
The centerpiece ceremony occurred on Brownsea Island itself, where at least one Scout representing each of 155 Scouting countries was gathered as part of the 2007 World Scout Jamboree. Scouts throughout the world were able to link up via television and the Internet with the Brownsea Island celebrations and those of the 40,000 Scouts at the nearby Jamboree encampment – participating globally in a truly memorable event in Scouting history.
Both as a business consultant and community volunteer I’ve been a student – and practitioner – of leadership for more than forty years. Scouting’s Sunrise stands out as one of my favorite personal examples demonstrating the power of vision-centered leadership. I hope you like it, too. There’s a video entitled “Scouting’s Sunrise Atlanta 2007” that you can view at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTyF6WSK7Y8&feature=youtu.be