I love a couple of the quotes from this section (I don't give the pages because I read it on my iPhone) “Art is a personal act of courage, something one human does that creates change in another” and “An artist is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity, and boldness to challenge the status quo. And an artist takes it personally.”

At camp we often debate what makes that special staff that much better – they have the same resume, the same types of experience – but often it is the fact that they take it personally. Ever had that talk with all camp staff over an issue that has arisen and the one staff who didn't need to worry comes to you, they took it personally and want to do better. This is a camp staff who cares – who gets it – who takes it persoannaly…

The challenge I have in interviews is making sure I am getting who I think I'm getting. I like to ask about what books they read, what music they listen to – get to know them, know their creativity level – not always easy.

Jenn – I love the question “What makes you remarkable?” – maybe it is a question that we should all ask ourselves on a daily basis as well…

Just a thought.

1) one of my favourite firings ever: A staff member who said to my director (I was 2IC that summer) “but that's not in my job description”. Clearly, he wasn't cut out for camp.

2) We gave up on interviews.
Instead we ran 2 staff program days in the city (Toronto is central for our staff) in January and February. Staff within 3 hours drive were required to be at one of the two of them.
We would run adventure programming activities for a day and that way get to observe people in a more natural situation (see who leads, who lets others lead, what activities they are comfortable in, etc).
The thing with interviews is that scam-my people can potentially do much better than those quiet all-stars who you know are AMAZING with kids but for whom interviews are the worst thing in the world.