By Christopher Klaver
CIO
Posted: July 26, 2017 4:27 PM

For those who have not done it, being a leader in Boy Scouts is hard work.

President Donald Trump took pride in addressing the National Jamboree on Tuesday as honorary president of Boy Scouts of America, as he should. Unfortunately, his address showed he has no concept of what it means to be a scout leader.

Our charge is to develop youth into good citizens using the Oath, the Law and the Motto. The central theme of all of those is service: the skills you learn in Scouting are ultimately so you can contribute to the greater good.

There is a duty to self among the three points of the Scout Oath, but it follows, and supports, the duty to God and country and the duty to others. One who is “physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight” has the tools to provide for the needs of others.

Young people naturally think about themselves first. They have been taken care of and provided for up to this point. They have been the center of everyone’s attention.

Our job as leaders is to get them to see the broader world, to understand that there are other people in that world, and that, as leaders, it is their job to provide for and lift up those others.

Mr. Trump’s address, though, was all about self.

Pundits, of course, picked up on the politics that laced the address. And that was a prime target for them considering that BSA had asked him to avoid it and he himself said he would.

“Who the hell wants to speak about politics when I’m in front of the Boy Scouts?” he said among his opening comments.

First: really? How can we tell the youth to avoid coarse language when the president of the United States is using it in an address to them.

Second, how can we expect the youth to be trustworthy (the first point of the Scout Law) and keep their word when a key figure they should be able to look up to can only manage it for a few minutes?

Most importantly, though, the political discussions fit with the theme of his address, which was all about self and self-importance. It was about how he had won despite the unfairness around him.

Mr. Trump’s address was about success. His definition: lots of money.

He is right that many scouts have decided on their career based on a merit badge they earned or an experience they had in Scouting.

And he did have good advice: “Persevere. Never, ever quit.” Also: “You have to find out what makes you excited. What makes you want to get up every morning and go to work.”

If you do that, he goes on to say, you will make a lot of money, buy a yacht and party all the time. If you were to lose all that money, as the person in his story does, you will be ostracized by everyone who matters. He describes the man as “the once great William Levitt”.

Mr. Trump does mention the duty to others, but never ties that into his primary message. Instead, he uses it to segue back to his political messages and the power of his administration.

“If you do these things and if you refuse to give in to doubt and fear, you will help to make America great again,” he said.