by Diane Tyrrell, C.C.D.
Camp counselor Dorothy has spent several arduousbut- rewarding summer
seasons supervising her cabin groups. She kept them safe from flying
monkeys and taught them how to throw apples with accuracy and how to
navigate using the yellow brick road GPS system. She brought in a consultant
to help the campers learn about poppies in the natural environment and
the impact of global temperature change — and spent countless hours
boosting Lion's self-esteem, helping Tin Man learn to make and
keep friends, and made sure that Scarecrow got his Ritalin on time every
day. She has found the counseling job to be so rewarding that she has
decided to make a career out of it and become a camp director. After
completing her education, she is hired as the director of Emerald City
Summer Camp, L.L.C., replacing the former director — the Great-and-Powerful
Wizard.
However, after a few months on the job, Dorothy is floundering
fast and has started to wonder if she shouldn't have stayed in
Kansas. After all, she had spent several summers at the camp, and none
of what was happening now had gone on then . . . or had it? So much of
what is happening under her watch didn't happen when the wizard
was there . . . or did it? Maybe she isn't cut out for this job
after all. But what Dorothy doesn't know is that everything she
is facing — from problems with the health department to dealing
with the parents of campers — are the same types of things that
did occur while she was there as a camp counselor . . . She just never
got to see behind the curtain.
"Pay No Attention to the Man Behind
the Curtain!"
We as operators and directors are very good at playing
the wizard-behind-the-curtain — magically making the day-to-day
operations happen, doing a majority of this work in a very much behind-the-scenes
environment. Often, it is with intention that we keep much of our activity
behind-the scenes — and we often do so for some very legitimate
reasons:
- To keep counseling and program delivery staff focused:
As one director put it, "I want my staff to be focused on their
responsibilities with the campers, so I try really hard not to distract
them with all of the other stuff that happens during the day. The ideal
situation is that they are not even aware there ever was a problem."
- To
maintain confidentiality: "A lot of the problems I have to solve
involve confidential issues with campers, their parents, and staff. Obviously,
this has to be done in private, and is always handled behind the scenes."
- To
maintain confidence in the program: "I want the staff to have a
strong belief in the program and confidence in the people running it.
If they saw the sheer volume of stuff, including problems, that we deal
with every day, and were in the middle of the day-to-day ‘organized
chaos,' they may develop a perception that the camp is in a constant ‘state
of emergency.' We try to handle things quickly and quietly with
as little disruption to the program as possible, and then we move on
to the next challenge."
- To maintain confidence in the director/
administrative staff: "You know those days when you laugh to keep
from crying? Well, during the course of a season, a director might face
many of those types of challenges. And, because we, as directors, have
to function in ways that ensure our staffs have confidence in our leadership
and ability to problem solve, we may hold many of our cards — and
even our own emotions — close to the vest. While another experienced
camp director would totally understand what I am going through, our general
camp counselors don't have that same sense of context, and if they
saw all that we did sometimes, they might think we were teetering on
the brink."
- It's not always sunny behind the curtain: "The
behind-the-curtain operation isn't always what we want others to
see. Behind the scenes at camp is where we take out the trash, fire employees,
are challenged by parents, deal with regulatory agencies, etc., and it
isn't the idyllic mission-based panoramic view of the smiling faces
and pretty facilities that we sell in our brochures. That view is reserved
for the participants, and we guard it with a passion by keeping the ‘ugly' stuff
concealed."
For many of us, we have become so good at functioning behind the curtain
that we almost forget that it is there. Problem solving is much like
breathing to an experienced camp director, and the day-to-day operational
and business items become second nature; it's what we do, and we
become very good at it.
However, while we have some legitimate reasons
for "maintaining the curtain," we may be doing a disservice
to those staff who have expressed an interest in camp as a career — potential
young and emerging professionals — by not exposing them to the
other side, at least on occasion . . . .
Pulling Back the Curtain
Imagine
if the wizard had let Dorothy see — and work — behind the
curtain while she was planning her career, during the summers while she
was going to college.
She probably would have learned about the business
aspects of the operation, been able to observe "big picture" decision
making, learned how to keep her cool in a crisis, gained a better understanding
of operational planning, and had an educated perspective of the realities
of running a summer camp. And as a result, she would probably be in a
much more functional place now as the director.
Benefits for future camp
leaders in getting to see behind-the-scenes camp operations may include:
- Gaining
a better understanding of the "bigger picture" of the camp
operation
- Acquiring a better understanding of operational areas
to which they otherwise may not have exposure, such as the office,
business and finance operations, food service, facility management,
etc.
- Decision
making from a "big picture" scope of responsibility
- Organizational
planning, development, and management
- Skill-set development
in areas such as marketing, communications, human resources, etc.
The process
for allowing them to see behind the curtain can be simple or in-depth,
casual or formal, but should be intentional. Here are some ideas to get
you thinking . . . .
- Highlight decisions that were made and why
with weekly or daily conversations.
- Provide activities/training
for the participants to practice decision making.
- Provide activities/training
for the participants to learn/practice specific skills that are used
by the director daily/weekly.
- Allow training
in/exposure to various aspects of the day-to-day operations of the
camp.
- Offer
internships in various areas throughout the camp's operation.
- Create "fireside
chats" with administrative staff to learn about the lifestyle,
responsibilities, job duties, stressors, skills required, etc. of being
a camp director.
- Assign a daily or weekly task, such as doing
cabin assignments, laundry pick-up, or mail delivery, as a learning
opportunity.
- Put
staff in charge of planning/ executing a big event.
The opportunities
are endless! How far back the curtain goes is certainly something for
consideration, and there may be certain circumstances when it isn't
appropriate to include these additional staff in the actual process.
But "overprotecting" these staff doesn't help them
learn either; exposure to reality — including your "ugly
stuff" — is a critical part of this learning process! By
accepting that there are times when it's OK for Toto to pull back
the curtain and expose what's going on behind the scenes, we are
in a better place to educate and mentor young and emerging professionals.
Just think back to when you were in Dorothy's shoes as a new
director (and despite whatever disaster fell upon you, there was no clicking
your heels together to wish your way back home). Certainly, we have all
had those moments where we wished for the collective wisdom of those
who went before us. Rather than keeping the curtain closed and risking
letting a house drop on prospective camp leaders, we can allow them behind
the curtain and share the opportunity to be the "goodwitches" and
empower those who will replace us in the future!
Originally published in the 2008 March/April
issue of Camping Magazine. |
