Getting to know Ethan Draddy

As a first step for the employees and Scouters of Greater New York Councils (GNYC) we here at TruScouting think you should get to know a little about your new CEO.  By the way, Ethan LOVES being a CEO.  We first want to give you a couple of Top Ten Lists; Getting to know Ethan Draddy and Ten Ways to survive Ethan Draddy.  We'll share these with you over the next few days.

Let’s get real New York.  Your council is in debt.  Your board, most likely, does not want to raise the money to repay it.  The old adage about why someone is on a non-profit board is to “get, give and govern.”  Most BSA board members don’t have a clue about getting money, here in Baltimore we’ve had a difficult time having board members give and outside of showing up for the dog and pony show board meetings at large councils are, there is very little governing.  Just how did your council get so far in debt?  It wasn't because the board was paying attention.  Why didn't the board do anything about it?

Well they have now.  Your board has just hired “Hi, I’m Ethan.”  Now Ethan has a reputation as quite the money manager.  During a recession, he was able to single handedly, repay 1.2 million dollars in debt while maintaining positive fund balances!  How?  Well the first part was easy – timing.  Ethan was hired just as seven years’ worth of getting money from the feds paid off.  The money was put into an endowment for our camps and Ethan (with board approval, it had been the plan all along) borrowed from this endowment to pay off the debt.  Now how did he maintain positive numbers for everything else?  He cut services.  However, you have to get to know Ethan to understand how this happened.  It wasn’t like there was a plan.  Ethan has some issues and coming into a council with debt helps cover his character flaws. 

So for today, at number ten:  Ethan is emotionally insecure.

It could be the messed up grill.  The height or the glasses he must have worn as a child; but Ethan is emotionally insecure.  One of the first questions he’ll ask about anyone outside of Scouting is, “does he/she like us?”  Look at his track record, Ethan likes to fire people.  Call around to his first two councils or talk to people that worked with him at the camps he ran – his first response is to fire people. Normally not for performance, there is always some other issue.  What we have found is when an employee shows any lack of support for an Ethan Idea that is when it starts – the guy gets hurt feelings and strikes back.   Anymore you won’t find him in the office when the people are escorted out.  He finds other places to be.  Volunteers that show any disapproval are quickly asked what else in Scouting they would like to do.

If you plan to live with Ethan for the next four years, just remember, in many ways you’ll be dealing with a 14 year old boy with a lot of power over your careers or influence over what you do in Scouting.