Leadership: Managing Transactions or Fostering Innovation?

Are you a transactional or transformational leader? Transactional leaders focus on routine tasks. They are all about getting the job done on a day-to-day basis. Their goal is to maintain an organization that’s consistent and dependable.  They measure success based on meeting standards and being efficient.

Transformational leaders on the other hand, focus on moving their organization forward. They constantly are challenging the status quo, looking for new ideas, new opportunities and new ways of doing things. They work to create a culture that nurtures innovation, creativity and change.

Transformational leaders typically exhibit four key characteristics The transformational leader is more often than not charismatic. They have a vision and sense of mission that excites others. Their charisma and future orientation also make transformational leaders very inspiring. These leaders provide those they lead with intellectual stimulation.  They also tend to offer their staff a great deal of individualized attention.

How do transformational leaders create transformation in their organizations? Research has identified common strategies employed by these leaders to help drive innovation. They include:

1       - Helping people look beyond self interest

2       - Helping people search for self-fulfillment

3       -  Helping people understand the need for change

4       - Creating a sense of urgency in people

5       - Committing to greatness

           - Adopting a broad, long term perspective

360 Degree Feedback

The Apple Store Experience

 Carmine Gallo, has written a book called The Apple Experience: Secrets to Building Insanely Great Customer Loyalty. The Apple Store is the most profitable retailer in America, generating an average of $5,600 per square foot and attracting more than 20,000 visitors a week. Gallo identified the following characteristics that set the Apple store apart:

1. Stop selling stuff - sell the experience & a lifestyle
2. Enrich lives - help people learn how to use products to improve their lives
3. Hire for smiles - focus on friendliness & building relationships
4. Celebrate diversity - hire staff that reflect diversity of customers
5. Unleash inner genius - teach customers something new 
6. Empower employees - give staff the power to please customers
7. Sell the benefit - answer the question...how does this help me
8. Create multisensory experiences - make it fun and interactive
9. Appeal to the buying brain - create a neat, uncluttered & well organized space

How could your camp apply the lessons of the Apple Store?

Planning Staff Training: Environment Analysis

(Note: This is the fifth in a series of posts that will be published in the coming weeks to provide an overview of a systematic approach to developing summer camp staff training.)

The final step in planning staff training is to analyze the learning environment. During this step the goal is to identify environmental factors that may impact training. Any outside forces that constrain what you can do with your training need to be identified. 

Time

The first environmental factor to look at is time. You need to determine how much time is available for training. Consider what the overall time frame is for your staff training, how much time other non-training activities will consume and what is left for actual training. You also want to consider when time is available as it might influence what type of learning activities can be done. If much of your available time is in the afternoon and you’re in a very hot climate it may limit how much physical outdoor activity your training can include.  Nighttime training might restrict some of what can be done and where it can done. 

Facilities

The type of facilities available will have an impact on your training. Look at what space is available, both indoors and outdoors. Consider how that space can or can’t be used. Identify maximum capacities. Also look at limitations such as lack of lighting for nighttime training or lack of power for projectors.

Resources

Understanding what resources are available is also an important consideration when planning training. Identify what supplies and equipment you might need and whether they are available. Review the budget if one exists for training to ensure you know how much money is available to support your training.

Mandated Requirements

Another factor that may influence your training are requirements mandated by your organization, state licensing or your accreditation. During the analysis process spend time researching and building a list of these mandates so they can be added to the information generated in your task analysis. If your organization requires a four hour training on preventing and reporting child abuse it’s important to identify that requirement as you begin to develop your training.

The five steps in the planning process create a framework around on which your staff training will be build. You’ll have clearly defined overall goals for your training. The job and task analysis will yield a comprehensive list of topics to be taught during the training. Through learner analysis you’ll understand the characteristics of your staff and how they impact your training. You also will have identified any environments factors that need to be considered. With this information in hand you’re ready to design your staff training. 

Coaching Principles

I've been fortunate over the years to coach middle school soccer and high school football and basketball. Early in my coaching career I developed a set of core principles I tried to use to guide my coaching. Recently I came across a copy of these principles. As I read through them I realized they are more than just coaching principles, they are leadership principles that make as much sense at camp as they did on the field or in the gym.

1. Players Staff  will not engage in behavior they don't see from their coach camp director.
2. No individual can be more important than the team camp. 
3. Consistent success requires experiencing game camp intensity and tempo in practice staff training.
4. Discipline = execution.
5. Many players staff will accept mediocrity...coaches camp directors must demand excellence.
6. The difference between good and great is attention to detail.
7. Most players staff are capable of more than they think they can do...coaches camp directors can help them discover their full potential by pushing them beyond their self imposed limits.
8. Every repetition of every drill activity creates habits, good or bad...coaches camp directors must require every repetition be done right. 
9. Mental and physical toughness can be developed by mentally and physically challenging players staff.
10. Expectations must be accompanied by accountability or they don't exist.

Fueling Your Staff

Folding Underwear

On a cold February day 34 years ago I learned to fold my underwear...horizontally in equal thirds and vertically six inches from top to bottom. Today, if you were to look in my dresser drawer, my underwear would be folded in roughly the same manner.

As a young airman going through Air Force basic training, I learned to fold my underwear, socks, and other items to exacting specifications. Everyday our training instructor (TI) would inspect our underwear...with a ruler. Not exactly equal thirds? Not exactly six inches? Be off by as little as a quarter of an inch and you incurred the wrath of the TI. All of your clothes would end up being dumped on the floor and you started over. Why? Did it really matter how our underwear was folded?

A year after learning to fold my underwear, I found myself on the flight line at an Air Force base in Arizona. My crew and I loaded bombs, rockets, missiles and other things that exploded onto fighter aircraft. Attention to detail was crucial. Attention to detail prevented accidents. Attention to detail kept us from destroying multimillion dollar aircraft. Attention to detail was a matter of life and death for us and the pilots who flew the aircraft.

That attention to detail was learned and became a habit, not on the flight line, but in a barracks the year before, folding underwear, over and over again in exactly equal thirds and six inches. Out TI set exacting standards. He was crystal clear about what he wanted. He continually checked our performance. He gave us regular feedback on how we were doing. He held us accountable for what we did or didn't do correctly.

Under the tutelage of our TI, attention to detail became second nature to us. We payed attention to every small detail. We discovered that while certain details really didn't matter, the discipline to focus on them was invaluable. We learned to not only accept, but to appreciate our TI's feedback as a tool to make us better. We became determined to never do just enough to get by. We committed ourselves to doing things right, not just some of the time, but all of the time. Our standards became as high as those of our TI. We began to hold ourselves and each other accountable.

Over the past several weeks I've been thinking about this upcoming summer, our staff training, and how I can help the young people I lead to learn the lessons I learned folding underwear.

Challenged to Lead

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”    Nelson Mandela

Planning Staff Training: Learner Analysis

  (Note: This is the forth in a series of posts that will be published in the coming weeks to provide an overview of a systematic approach to developing summer camp staff training.)

The fourth step in planning staff training is leaner analysis. In this step you try to identify factors regarding the staff that might impact your training. As mentioned previously, most camp directors plan their camp program with their mission in mind. In addition, most would also consider it critical to plan their program with an understanding of their campers. Planning staff training is no different. It begins with a clear understanding of goals but it also carefully considers the needs of the staff it’s designed to teach.  

Entry Behavior

The first learner characteristic to assess is entry behavior. Entry behaviors are simply the tasks that staff  have performed in the past that are similar to those you want to teach them to perform. An entry behavior may have helped a staff member develop knowledge, skills or attitudes that are essential to tasks they’ll be asked to perform at camp. By understanding these entry behaviors you can plan your instruction with the staff member’s previous learning in mind. Entry behaviors can serve as a starting point for teaching new skills. You can compare and tie new behaviors to these previous behaviors.   

As an example, your learner analysis might find that most of your staff have babysat. They may have served as a babysitter for other families or cared for their siblings. In either case there are behaviors associated with babysitting that are similar to those used by a camp counselor. You can use these behaviors learned as a babysitter to help staff members master the skills of a camp counselor.

It is important to realize that while some entry behavior is helpful, some can also be counterproductive to your training efforts. A counselor who is assigned to sports might have entry behaviors from a highly competitive school or club athletic environment that are contrary to the philosophy of your camp. The counselor’s entry behaviors may be in direct conflict with the behaviors you expect of your sports staff. In this case you’ll have to help the staff member overcome his previous learning to help him perform the job as expected at your camp.

Prior Knowledge     

In addition to having experience in tasks similar to camp, staff members may also come with direct knowledge of the topics on which you’ll be training them. It is important during learner analysis to identify what knowledge they possess, how in depth that knowledge is and if it is accurate.

If staff members have a good foundation of knowledge of a particular topic it enables you to begin your training at a different point and progress at a much faster pace. If on the other hand staff members know little about a topic you’ll need to spend more time and effort teaching it. In the case where staff members have prior knowledge that is incorrect you’ll be forced to not only teach the correct information, but also handle the challenging task of explaining why the staff member’s previous perspective is incorrect.  

Attitudes

The attitudes of staff members have a direct impact on their learning. You need to assess the attitude of staff members regarding your camp, their job and other staff members. It is also important to understand their attitudes regarding staff training. If they view training as a waste of time for instance you need find ways to design your training to increase the perceived relevance. If the attitude is that training is boring you need to address the issue by making it more active and engaging.

As you assess attitudes it is also important to look at how staff members view various topics. If there are particular areas such as staff policies that staff feel negatively about it is important that you know this ahead of time. This allows you to plan your training accordingly. For instance, you might reframe your discussion of staff policies from a focus on a list of what not to do to presenting policies as tools to help staff make good decisions.      

Educational Ability and Level

Each staff member will come to camp with different abilities and educational backgrounds. You may have staff ranging from high school students to those with graduate degrees. The academic disciplines they are familiar with also vary.

Your goal is to identify where people are in terms of ability and education so that you can develop staff training that meets everyone’s needs. By identifying those with less ability and/or less education you can establish where your training needs to start to ensure everyone comprehends what you’re teaching. Recognizing those with greater ability and/or education helps you understand who may need to be challenged more. It can also identify staff members who might be able to help others during training.

Learning Preferences

Each of your staff members will have difference preferences regarding how they learn best. Identifying these learning preferences can help you create a training program that connects with each staff member through their particular learning style.  

A common approach to learning styles suggests that people learn best in one of three ways; auditory, visual or kinesthetic. Auditory learners are those who learn best by listening. They respond positively to lectures and discussions. Visual learners on the other hand learn best by seeing things. Graphics, pictures or other visual stimuli help then learn. Kinesthetic learners are hands-on learners for whom touching, manipulating objects and physical movement are the keys to learning.

Most people have some sense of which learning style they are and can provide you with information on how they learn best. There are also a number of easy to use questionnaires available that staff members can take to identify their learning style. With a knowledge of their learning styles you can adapt your training to provide the right mix of auditory, visual and physical stimuli.  

Group Characteristics

Each year your summer camp staff will develop its own unique characteristics and personality. These characteristics effect how they interact with one another, how they accomplish tasks and their preferences regarding activities. As you analyze the group you’ll be training try to identify any characteristics that might impact the training. Are they very social or somewhat reserved group? How physically active are they?  Do they enjoy games or are they the more serious types?  Do they prefer to work collaboratively as a large group or in smaller groups or perhaps as individuals?

The answers to these questions can help you shape the design of your training. It might suggest that one type of activity would be more effective than another becomes it fits with the preferences of the group. On the other hand this analysis might also highlight some areas where improvement is needed. For instance, if the group doesn’t enjoy working together collaboratively, you may choose to select training activities that force them to work together so they hopefully improve their skills.

Five Leadership Myths

Leadership Myths

Myth #1 - Your position as camp director makes you a leader.
Reality #1 - You become a leader by developing the trust, confidence and commitment of your staff. 

Myth #2 - Leadership can't be taught, it's a personality trait.
Reality #2 - Leadership is a set of skills and behaviors that can be learned.

Myth #3 - As a a leader you should have all the answers
Reality #3 - Leaders know their limits, admit what they don't know and aren't afraid to ask for help.

Myth #4 - Your staff is here to support you.
Reality #4 - Leadership is about being a servant, supporting your staff and helping them succeed.

Myth #5 - You have to be a charismatic, extrovert to lead.
Reality #5 - Leadership comes in many styles, all of which have the potential to be effective. 

Six Thinking Hats

Edward deBono's Six Thinking Hats describe different ways of looking at problems and decisions.

Sources of Conflict

Conflict is inevitable in most organizations, including camps. The key to resolving conflict is to understand the source. If we can identify the source, we have a starting point for working with the parties involved to find a solution.

Psychologists Art Bell and Brett Hart have identified the most common sources of conflict in the workplace. They include:

1. Conflicting resources.
2. Conflicting styles.
3. Conflicting perceptions.
4. Conflicting goals.
5. Conflicting pressures.
6. Conflicting roles.
7. Different personal values.
8. Unpredictable policies.

When conflict arises, talk with each party to identify which one or more of these sources of conflict exists. Once you've identified the source, work with both parties to resolve the issue. Focus on the source of the conflict, rather than the conflict itself.

What's the Next Action

When faced with a large and/or complicated project (e.g. plan staff training) it's easy to get overwhelmed before even starting. Procrastination often sets in as you try to figure how to get the task done. David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, emphasizes the importance of creating initial momentum. If you can just get started by taking a step forward, no matter how small, you begin to develop inertia. Follow that step with another, then another.

Allen suggests beginning any project by asking the question what's the next action? Once you've answered the question, take that action. Then ask the question again, what's the next action? Do it.  Keep repeating the process and you'll create momentum that will lead to completing your project.

Planning Staff Training: Task Analysis

 (Note: This is the third in a series of posts that will be published in the coming weeks to provide an overview of a systematic approach to developing summer camp staff training.)

Once you’ve identified the tasks staff members need to be trained in (see Job Analysis post) the next step in developing staff training is to determine what they’ll need to learn in order to accomplish those tasks. Performing any task can be broken down into three elements; skills, knowledge and attitudes. By identifying the skills, knowledge and attitudes required to perform a task you can create a list of very specific topics to be taught. 

Skills

A skill is the physical and/or mental ability to perform some set of activities or steps. When done together, and usually in a specified sequence, these activities accomplish an outcome. As an example, diving into the water is a skill lifeguards must have in order to accomplish the task of rescuing a struggling swimmer. Diving into the water requires a set of steps, taken in a required sequence, which must be learned. The steps in the skill can be identified, documented and standardized. Training can be developed to teach the step-by-step sequence of the skill.

When you develop training to accomplish physical tasks, identifying and teaching skills is easy. When you teach a counselor how to lead a game it is logical to teach a step-by-step process. It is important however to remember that skills are also required in accomplishing tasks that are less physical and more interpersonal such as responding to a camper’s homesickness. While tougher to do, there are specific step-by-step actions that need to identified and taught even when training staff in these types of tasks.  

Knowledge

Along with skills, almost all tasks also require some knowledge. Knowledge is the facts, concepts and ideas we know about a particular topic. It is the cognitive piece of performing a task. In the example of the lifeguard for instance, there are concepts they must know or knowledge they must possess in order to accomplish the task of rescuing a struggling swimmer. The warning signs that a swimmer is in trouble and in danger of drowning is an example of a piece of knowledge that a lifeguard must possess.

The challenge as you develop training is to find the right level of depth of knowledge. On one hand you don’t want staff performing a skill without knowing some background about how and why they’re doing it. At the same time it’s easy to overwhelm them with too much theoretical knowledge. As you analyze a task it is critical that you identify the knowledge that is key to understanding a task and also recognize the nice to know knowledge that perhaps can be left out.

Attitudes

A third component to accomplishing tasks are attitudes. In addition to knowing and doing, successfully accomplishing a task also requires certain feelings. Looking again at the example of a lifeguard and the task of rescuing a struggling swimmer, there are certain feelings or attitudes that are essential. A sense of urgency in responding in such situations is an example of an attitude or feeling you’d want a lifeguard to have.

Too often when training people to perform tasks, organizations focus on the skills and knowledge but not on attitudes. Think of the robotic treatment you often experience from employees at fast food restaurants. The person taking your order usually knows how to place your order (skill) and can answer basic questions about the product (knowledge). They however often lack enthusiasm, interest and caring. These are all attitudes that make difference in how that task is accomplished. The best organizations help employees not only develop the skills and knowledge they need but also the supporting attitudes.  

Analyzing Tasks

To identify the knowledge, skills and attitudes that you’ll need to teach, each task needs to be analyzed. For each task ask the following questions:

1. What does the staff member need to know to accomplish this task effectively? (the knowledge question)

2. What does the staff member need to be able to do to accomplish this task effectively?  ( the skills question)

3. What does the staff member need to feel to accomplish this task effectively? (the attitudes question)

The answers to these questions will provide you with a comprehensive list of items to include in your staff training. An easy way to organize this information is to use a simple chart for each task with a column for knowledge, skills and attitudes such as the one as shown below.   

Knowledge (Know)	Skills (Do)	Attitudes (Feel)
What is homesickness Risk factors for homesickness Prevention strategies the camp uses Common signs of homesickness Individual strategies for coping with homesickness	Recognize potential homesickness in a camper Discuss homesickness with a camper Coach a camper to select and use effective coping  strategies	Homesickness is normal reaction to separation  Homesickness is painful and interferes with enjoying camp Severe homesickness is preventable Discussing homesickness with a camper will not increase it Campers can be coached to use strategies to decrease homesickness

Three Ways to a Make Poor Decision

A couple of days ago I was having a discussion with some members of our leadership team about programming for the upcoming summer. A staff member mentioned that they felt we should either change or eliminate a particular activity. When I asked why, she mentioned that several counselors had complained strongly about the activity. I asked what data from our end of week camper evaluations showed. The staff member didn't know.

In the same discussion, we talked about another camp activity that all of our staff thought was great and should be left as is. Unfortunately, in our end of the week camper evaluations, this activity was consistently rated as the "least favorite" activity by campers.

This discussion points out three common problems that can plague camp leadership when making decisions:

1. Assume the view of the staff reflects the view of campers.
While we would hope counselors would want what's best for the campers, the reality is they have different priorities. When looking at an activity they may be concerned with how it helps or hinders their management of the group. They may be focused on whether they have to be actively engaged or if someone else will provide the leadership. They may tend to prefer activities that allow them to interact with other staff. These might be important considerations. If, however, we are interested in what campers think, we can't assume the staff speak for them.

2. Assume those who complain the loudest reflect the majority. 
It's natural to react to those staff members who are passionate and vocal in expressing their opinion. It's important, however, that we recognize they may or may not represent the majority. We need to take their feedback and use it as a starting point to explore an issue. What do other staff members think who haven't spoken up? We need to get a look at the complete picture before acting.

3. Use opinions rather than data to make decisions.
While the opinion of staff members is important, remember it is just that, an opinion. If we have data, we have to use it to vet the opinions we're hearing. Does the data back up the opinions that have been voiced? If not, why?

You are a Leader...

Five Keys to a Successful Crafts Program

Making crafts is as iconic a part of the camp experience as is making s'mores around a campfire. Yet too often, crafts are planned with far less attention than other program activities. Planning crafts often is no more than finding a "crafty" staff member, sending them into a "craft hut" filled with a random supplies and expecting them to magically create fun craft projects for campers. 

How do you create a successful, high quality crafts programs? Here are five keys to building a great crafts program:

1. Know your goals - Know what you're trying to accomplish. Are you trying to teach skills and if so which ones? Are you trying to encourage character development? If so, what traits? Is the goal to encourage interaction and relationship building or focus on individual effort?

2. Plan, Plan, Plan - Plan what you're going to do, how you're going to do it and what you'll need beforehand. Don't just throw things together. Take the same detailed approach to planning crafts you would for planning an out of camp trip or other complex activity. 

3. Hire the right person - Yes, you do need a "crafty" person. Find someone who has a passion for crafts. Get the person who loves to be creative and wants to help kids experience the joy of creating.
Great planning and organizing skills are also essential.

4. Get "real" resources - Sure you can make some crafts from donated and recycled materials. But to provide a quality experience you're going to have to spend some money. There are basic tools of the trade and materials that every quality crafts program needs to invest in to support their program. 

5. Make it a positive experience for kids - While crafts can be fun and rewarding, they can also be boring and frustrating. Plan for success. Can a project be done in the available time frame? Think about age appropriateness. What appeals to boys in addition to girls?

For crafts ideas for camp check out crafts4camp.com.

When Less is Better...Reducing Paperwork

When I was in the Air Force I had a supervisor who took on the risky task of eliminating unnecessary paperwork. Like any giant, government bureaucracy, the Air Force had seemingly endless requirements for people to complete and submit paperwork. After years of dutifully complying, my boss finally reached his breaking point. He began a strategy of not submitting anything he thought was useless. If he later received a request for information that would have been in paperwork he should have submitted, he'd apologize for his lateness, and submit the paperwork. What was astounding was how often he didn't submit a form or report and no one said anything, ever. Clearly there was little, if any, value in the paperwork no one missed.

All too often, when problems occur, leaders create paperwork methods (forms, reports, etc.) to solve the immediate issue and prevent future recurrence. Unfortunately, over time, while the need may go away, the paperwork routine doesn't. The cumulative effect can be to create an administrative burden that adds little value.

Try this simple exercise to help eliminate unnecessary paperwork. Every time you or someone at your camp fills out a form or does a report ask these questions:

1. How does this add value for the camper? If it doesn't why do we do it?
2. How does this increase our productivity or effectiveness? If it doesn't why do we do it?
3. Does completing this improve staff morale? If it doesn't why do we do it?

 

Planning Staff Training: Job Analysis

After defining the overall goals of training (see Defining Goals), the second step in creating an effective staff training program is identifying what tasks you want your staff to be able to accomplish. This step is called job analysis. Each job at summer camp is a collection of tasks. By identifying what those tasks are you can ensure you’re teaching the staff member what they need to succeed in their position.

A task is an activity which is one part of accomplishing an assignment or job. Inspecting an archery bow would be a task that is part of the job of supervising an archery range. Conducting a swim skills check would be an example of a task associated with the job of being a lifeguard.

For most summer camp jobs the list of tasks in quite long. Take for instance the job of a counselor. If you brainstormed what tasks a counselor does you might develop a list that includes some of the tasks listed below:

 Counselor Tasks

Get campers to wake up

Get campers to scheduled activities/events

Supervise mealtime at table

Supervise cabin clean up

Set expectations for camper behavior

Handle inappropriate behavior

Recognize positive behavior

Recognize signs that campers are struggling with personal issues

Promote inclusion of all campers in group

Promote teamwork in group

Build interpersonal relationship with campers

Respond to campers’ homesickness

Handle campers’ illnesses

Lead group discussions

Lead small group games

Ensure campers take care of personal hygiene

Make sure campers follow safety rules

The best source for developing a list of tasks are the staff members who actually do the job. You can get a group together to brainstorm or have several individual staff members create lists. Whatever method is used the goal is to create as comprehensive a list as possible covering every aspect of the job.  

Once you get the list(s) from your staff you should review them to make sure each task is clearly defined so that everyone understands what it is. Tasks should be defined in terms of specific behaviors. A task like leading small group games is very clearly defined.

On the other hand, promoting group teamwork is a pretty general definition that could be open to a variety of interpretations. In this case you would want to go back to those who generated the list and try to get a clearer picture of what the task entails. You would ask the question “what specifically would a counselor promoting teamwork in a group be doing”?  The answers should give you a clearer sense of the actual tasks involved in promoting group teamwork.

The list of tasks that come from your job analysis will focus for your training on what is most critical to teach. The actual content and methods developed to deliver the training will revolve around them. 

 (Note: This is the second in a series of posts that will be published in the coming weeks to provide an overview of a systematic approach to developing summer camp staff training.)

Traits of Remarkable Staff Members

What makes some staff truly stand out from the crowd? Jeff Haden writes at inc.com that there are some unique qualities that characterize the truly remarkable employee. Four of the characteristics describe what I've seen in the truly exceptional camp staff members I've worked with. They include:

1. They ignore job descriptions and do whatever is necessary, whether it's their job or not.
2. They speak out when others won't when they see problems or things don't seem right. 
3. They like to prove others wrong by doing what others think is unachievable.
4. They are always tinkering with processes, trying to make things better.