Good Staff and Um...

Bitch slapping staff: unprofessional or an effective way of communicating my displeasure?

It's probably not a good sign if I'm really unsure of the answer to that question. Hmmmm...

I have some incredible staff this summer. Focused on campers, creative, constanly dreaming up new ideas and filled with enthuiasm. They not only make my job easy, but they inspire me and make me feel so proud and impressed and they give me hope for the future of this little camp. Their positive attitudes and energy are unmatched. As I type this, a comittee of 5 people are busy planning a staff event for Friday night. They have decided to turn the art barn into an Italian Bistro. They have decorations, menus and food for diners to order, table cloths and placemats, music, and I heard a rumor the Pope might make an appearance. They are creating invitations and costumes. This is all spontaneous because they are hilarious and fun people who I adore.

And it's not just weekend stuff that they put energy into, the work they do with kids is WONDERFUL. They don't just teach archery, they create contests and games at archery. If kids get sick of fishing, they teach them how to craft their own fishing poles, or make paper fish. The ideas I've seen this summer are innovative and impressive.

One of the counselors in particular, P has been consistently amazing all summer. He created a Cabin Council, and each of his boys are elected into a position (President, Vice President, Itinerary Manager, etc.) and they all have a role. He created a whole new activity- bucket drum line. He created a "Man of Virtue" award based on the conversations his cabin had all week about what it means to be a strong man (keep in mind,, we're talking about 10 year old boys here). When the overnight camping trip got cancelled because of rain, he single handedly planed an alternative cookout, boating adventure. He's the most exceptional staff I have ever worked with in ten years, and that's saying a lot because I have worked with some truly gifted people. During his review, I struggled to give him anything to work on to improve or grow, because I literally just want to follow him around and listen as he works with kids and has brilliant ideas. And he inspires the rest of the staff to be creative and focused. I am blown away by him.

Because there are so many exceptional staff here, it makes the ones who are just average or who are getting burned out and coasting along look that much worse. Yesterday there was an incident that made me so mad I was shaking and had to call my best friend and literally scream at her for several minutes before I could calm down. When kids divided up into activities, one girl was missing. I had been dealing with a malfunctioning fire alarm, and when I came upon lead staff S and A, they had already searched the nurse, the bathrooms, the beach and were kicking into the "not panicking, but moving really fast because it's getting serious" mode.

10 minutes.

That's how long our camp couldn't locate a child.

I can't even begin typing why that is terrifying, horrible, and filled me with such rage I wanted to violently shake her counselors. Where was she? SLEEPING IN HER BUNK! Her counselors didn't wake her up. They mis-counted, or didn't count at all, both as the kids walked out of the cabin and also at the flag pole as the kids were waiting to go to their activities. No words can describe how many things they did wrong. Firing both counselors on the spot crossed my mind. I wanted to scream at them. It took ALL of my energy to calmly, patiently meet with them, ask questions, explain where the mistakes occurred, and warn them in such a way that they understood I was serious, but in a guiding, "this is a time for growth and learning" way. I tried to remember they are 19, this is their first job, and it is my job to help them develop. I imagined bitch slapping them as I did all this and that seemed to help.

Imaginary bitch slapping continued this morning as I had the, "you are not allowed to speak to me like that, I am your supervisor" conversation for the 4th time with my head cook (who is also 19). He has a lot of strengths, but flexibility isn't one of them. He thinks the kitchen is his personal 5 star restaurant and his overall attitude is "I run the show, no one (including his boss) is allowed to alter his plans." ...Um, yeah, it's camp. Sometimes it rains and we have to cancel the cookout. Sometimes I need someone to make me a gallon of pudding. And if I say tacos aren't a good lunch for Friday because they take too long and we end up running late with the parent program, I expect an answer of, "okay, we can solve this problem" and not a reaction filled with attitude and the tone of "how dare you." Also, when I say, "can I talk to you about lunch yesterday..." the appropriate response is, "sure" and not, "don't even talk to me, I'm not in the mood" (directly quoted from 8:30am this morning).

Once again, my patient, guiding, "here's what the professional response would be" re-directing voice came out while I imagined slapping him in the mouth and saying, "19 year old, don't push your luck, I haven't even had any coffee yet." I will inspire these young people and I will refrain from striking them, but clearly both are going to be a challenge.