Carole Blog #9              

Managing Strong Views and Opinions

There are a lot of myths, scams, theories, and opinions surrounding the Corona-virus. The  fake news can be quite convincing, you may have volunteers in your team who support some of these views and will voice them strongly, perhaps in leader meetings.

It was once said that “arguing is a waste of time; it is either fact or opinion”.

What is a fact?

A fact generally refers to something that is true and can be verified as such. That is, a fact is something that can be proven to be true.

What is an opinion?

An opinion refers to a personal belief. It  relates to how someone feels about something. Others may agree or disagree with an opinion, but they cannot prove or disprove it. This is what defines it as opinion.

We all volunteer with, or have volunteered with, at least one of these strong-minded people throughout our time in Scouting. Some  could call them difficult,  troublemakers, hard to please or outspoken, but often, with the right coaching they can turn into fantastic leaders and mentors.

The downside and what is most visible about strong-minded volunteers is their desire to be right, to argue, to find fault with everyone and everything. They seem to thrive on conflict or at least making line managers in Scouting roles hard work.

The upside is that these volunteers are very passionate about why they have volunteered and what they do. To channel that passion in the right direction, it will take some dedicated work on the part of you, their manager. It is easy to see these strong-minded volunteers as high maintenance and want to ignore or move them on, but if you are willing to coach through those feelings you will end up with a superstar.

But remember through all this: BE KIND

Carole O’Donnell
DCC People