Godin wrote about confidence in this week's reading. He wrote “the confidence to make a different in your organization and to do work that matters.” (35) I love giving camp staff the confidence they need to do their job through coaching and recognition.

I really think this quote is the key between running a good summer camp and a great summer camp. I think the more human you can be with your campers, families, and staff the better. It takes you being honest when you have a problem, solving it fast and in a way that is appropriate, and communicating that to everyone. This happens on every level of running a camp – a counselor handling a problem with a camper or a cabin, an unit leader scheduling her/his counselors, camp director or registrar getting back to a parent.

I completely agree with the quote “1. Solve interesting problems 2. ‘Lead” in a summer camp setting.

This made me think of my leadership team during the summer. For a while I was frustrated every few years when a new members would come on the team and try to re-invent the wheel with how we run certain programs. These linchpins were simply trying to take the initative with a problem they saw.

I had to bite my lip with these frustrations and air my concerns in a way that would help to these passionate staff. The last thing I wanted to do was come off not supportive. I wanted to help them succeed in a way new to me.

I have a distinct memory of an interesting problem that we had to solve when I was a young staff member. The theme of the week was the Wizard of Oz. Program was planned around the yellow brick road, the witches, the munchkins – everything Wizard of Oz. But what to do for the opening night campfire to signify that we weren't in Kansas anymore? What we needed was a tornado. An old programmer had drilled into us the thought that you should program by first figuring out what you wanted and then making it happen (rather than the other way around – looking at what you have and deciding what you can do with what you have).

So a group of us decided that what we would need was a tornado. Our maintenance crew constructed the frame of an outhouse with an old toilet inside but nothing covering the walls – just the 2X4 frame (all the better to see who was inside). We would then attach a rope doubled over on itself to the top of the frame and then over a branch and then we lifted the outhouse off the ground and twisted it – coiling the rope. The plan was to have Dorthy go into the outhouse then have two or three guys pull on the end of the rope – lifting the outhouse off the ground allowing for the rope to uncoil – twisting the outhouse and making it look like a tornado.

Great idea in theory.

As with most camp activities we did not get it completed in time to try it out before the big show – campfire time came. We had really wound up the rope on the outhouse. When all the campers where at campfire and the introduction skit was in full swing – Dorthy steps into the outhouse with her stuffed Toto. Three of us big guys pull on the other end of the rope – lifting the outhouse off the ground. I don't think anyone was ready for what happened next.

The outhouse lifted about 6 feet in the air and started spinning right away. The scream from Dorthy was very real – she had never been on this ride. We didn't have time for a practice run. The sight of Dorthy screaming was only made more real when suddenly the stuffed Toto flew out of the outhouse and sailed out over the campfire. When the spinning slowed everyone could see a very relieved Dorthy gripping the 2×4 frame with white knuckles. No one had told the rope pullers to set it back down – the outhouse started to unwind in the opposite direction, leading to an entirely new, very realistic scream by Dorthy. The Camp Director – who had not been in on the plan – was sitting with her jaw on the ground – which was pretty much the same look on all the campers and staff's faces.

We let the outhouse touch back down and then the skit went on – Munchkins appeared, a Witch was dead under the outhouse – but Dorthy could say nothing for the rest of the night.

That was using the skill of solving interesting problems,which lead to creatively explaining what we were thinking before it had happened to our camp director – sounded like a good idea at the time.

I love the idea that schools can change but Godin did not go into how they could change – to teach solving problems, to teach leadership – it would be interesting for Godin to dedicate a book on reforming the education system…

I loved this final thought from this section: “Leading is a skill, not a gift. You’re not born with it, you learn how. And schools can teach leadership as easily as they figured out how to teach compliance. Schools can teach us to be socially smart, to be open to connection, to understand the elements that build a tribe. While schools provide outlets for natural-born leaders, they don’t teach it. And leadership is now worth far more than compliance is.”

This stuck with me because is this not what we teach at camp? Camp is where I learned to lead.

I think, for some of us who have “grown up” with our camp (I was a participant in our program, worked my way up the staff ladder and now run it), we think that we know best because we've been “in it” so long. It's been a hard, but valuable lesson for me to learn to give the power back to our staff. Amazing things have happened as I've “let go”.

Also, we are finding so often these days that our adult staff are just as likely as our youth staff to operate under the “tell us what to do” mindset. We're working on how to transition them smoothly…especially since some of them go back to that kind of environment.

My old boss, Jim Thompson said, “Having the power to get things done My Way, the captain’s way, can be exhilarating, and seductive. It is also terribly limiting. It limits the team to being the reflection of the one in charge.”

From his book: Shooting in the Dark

I also LOVE the section on “Not My Job” (33) … if all of our program staff become those who do the things that “aren't their jobs” we will be in good shape. It reminds me of the “BTCOD” activity from Michael Brandwein's training materials. (A favorite of ours!)

Finally, I wanted to admit that I struggle with the difference between wanting our staff to be obedient and wanting them to be “artistic, motivated, connected, aware, passionate and genuine” (34). Sometimes it's hard to let go of that control…but I know it's for the best. I WANT our organization and our program to be “an organization of indispensable people doing important work” so that we are “remarkable, profitable, and indispensable in and of [our]sel[ves]” (36).