Wood Badge is the premier training program for all Scout Leaders in the Boy Scouts of America. This course is applicable to all Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Varsity and Venturing Leaders, District and Council Committee members as well as Professional Scouters. Wood Badge is designed to train adult volunteers using the latest leadership skills and techniques. It is a once in a life time, mountain-top training experience.

There are two parts to Wood Badge: The first part consists of two three-day weekends where you have the opportunity to learn skills and concepts that underlie the five themes of Wood Badge.

The second part is a plan to apply what you learned in the practical course. You will create and carry out a plan of action. When that action is completed, you earn the recognition, beads, neckerchief, and woggle that are the Wood Badge.

Scouts deserve trained leaders and trained leaders deserve the best program possible.

 
Wood Badge has five central themes that outline the course content. These themes are: 

1. Living the Values
   1. Values, mission, and vision
   2. Aims and methods
2. Bringing the Vision to Life
   1. Listening to learn
   2. Communicating
   3. Giving and receiving feedback
   4. Valuing people and leveraging diversity
   5. Coaching and mentoring
3. Models for Success
   1. High performance teams
   2. Stages of Team Development
   3. Team Leadership Model: Leading EDGE / Teaching EDGE
   4. Situational Leadership
4. Tools of the Trade
   1. Project planning
   2. Problem solving and decision making
   3. Managing conflict
   4. Assessing team performance
   5. Self-assessment
   6. Managing change
   7. Celebrating team success
5. Leading to Make a Difference
   1. Servant Leadership
   2. The greatest leadership secret
   3. Leaving a legacy

These workshops are taught through lecture, group discussion, hands on exercises, and through the creation of goals that apply the leadership training received.  At the conclusion of the course, attendees will have created at least 5 Scouting-related goals for themselves.  Each attendee has 18 months to  apply the training they received and the complete their 5 goals.

The course content is based upon contemporary leadership skills and theory, including content from Warren Bennis (On Becoming a Leader) , Ken Blanchard (The One Minute Manager series), Stephen Covey (The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), Max De Pree (Leading Without Power: Finding Hope in Serving Community), Spencer Johnson (Who Moved My Cheese?) and John Kotter (Leading Change).  Dr. Blanchard’s courses and workshops, offered through The Ken Blanchard Companies, run from hundreds of dollars per day to over a thousand dollars per day - and are well worth every dollar.  However, through Boy Scouts of America (and lots of volunteer work and time), the fee for the course is only $250 (price subject to change).

Leaders at many companies have recognized the value this training is to their employees.  As such, many agree to pay the course fees and/or give time off as part of their employee’s professional development and training plan.  Individual company policies vary, however, so ask your employer.