as part of his master's degree program in counseling psychology at san josé state university, he wrote a thesis titled "a design for leadership development in scouting". this book described the founding principles of the white stag program, which was later adapted by the national council of the boy scouts of america. prior to bánáthy's work, the adult wood badge and the junior leader training programs had focused on teaching scoutcraft skills and some aspects of the patrol method. his research and findings on teaching principles and competencies of leadership had a huge impact on these two programs, shifting their focus to leadership skills.