If you are like many Camp Directors, the summer turns into a black hole of busy-ness. From the first week of staff training through the final camp staff banquet the Camp Director is involved in many (all) aspects of the day-to-day of running a small company or small country (depends on your perspective). Now that the staff have left and the customers have checked out, you have an opportunity to exhale; it is now what I like to call “investment time”.
The next few months on your calendar will do much for the long-term success of yourself and your camp if you take advantage of the opportunity. The summer camp world can seem like a race at times: sometimes it’s a sprint and sometimes it’s a marathon. Here are a few reminders to make us successful in this R.A.C.E.:
Read – The summer season at camp isn’t always the best time to do heavy reading on leading staff, board development, budget management and new marketing ideas, but as a professional we cannot put off this investment in ourselves. If you don’t know where to start, I recommend looking on Amazon.com to see what the top selling leadership, business or management books are. Ask a friend or get on Linkedin.com and see what other professionals have on their reading list as well. If you need someone to hold you accountable set up a book club with other camp professionals, staff or board members.
Ask – I think the most powerful tool we have at our disposal is the ability to ask questions of those around us. With the power of social media we have the ability to connect and engage with professionals around the world and ask questions. Twitter and Linkedin are great tools where hundreds or even thousands of summer camp and non-profit professionals are at our finger tips ready to answer questions that we have.
Connect – My hope is that you took the opportunity of the summer camp season to invite out board members, donors and stakeholders to visit camp, but if you missed that window it is not too late to connect. Be intentional about connecting with your board members on a regular basis whether it is in person, by email, phone or hand written letter. They want to hear from you more often than just when it is time for your annual fundraising campaign. Invite them into discussions about the future of camp and the challenges you face. If you are not a member of a civic organization this would also be a great opportunity to visit a couple and consider joining. Raising the profile of your camp in the community is always a good thing.
Evolve – Over the last few years I have evolved from a program-focused camp leader to a process-focused camp leader. Camp should be fun and we can’t lose sight of that expectation, but my focus is no longer learning the 10 new camp songs a year or the greatest all camp game. I have program staff that are specialist in these areas. My focus now is on streamlining our processes so we can better serve our customers, be better stewards of our resources and develop higher level staff. This evolution has occurred from the books I have read and the interactions I have with other business professionals. I run better camps today than I did five years ago because I knew that I needed to change. I look at camp through a different filter now. How will you evolve over the next few months?
Take a couple of days to re-energize and then begin the investment time in yourself. You will benefit, your camp will benefit, your staff will benefit and your community will benefit from the investment you make over the next few months. It’s a R.A.C.E. – ready, set, go!
