Coming to God

Besides the staff who I yelled at, overall, the whole staff was just having an "off" week last week. The kids were awesome and luckily they were the most low maintenance group we've had, because the staff were causing me to throw my arms in the air and pull out my hair and vent to lead staff, asking, "what's wrong with all of them?!"

So PDS, PDP and I sat down to go over our biggest frustrations and come up with an agenda for our end of the week staff meeting. I wasn't looking for staff input or feedback, rather, I needed to have a "coming to God" meeting with all of them.

PDS started and she reiterated the importance of being focused on campers and having a positive attitude/ counselor face.

PDP went next and let everyone know that the changes we make to the schedule are necessary and we are letting people know as soon as we do and to chill out (that's paraphrased, not exactly what he said).

I was last because, quite frankly, I wanted to leave the meeting having had the last word. My normal style is very open, collaborative, welcome to feedback and inclusive. But I put my foot down when I mean it and their faces showed that they were a little surprised, but hopefully taking me seriously.

1. This is a job. Yes, I care about everyone and want them to grow and develop and have fun. But if they don't remember that it is a job, with responsibilities, I will care about them from a distance, because they will not have a job anymore.

2. Opinions about the program, job performance of lead staff or co-workers- those need to stop. There is a person at camp whose job is to oversee everything and everyone. It's me. I'm good at it. I'm doing it. Staff only see a fraction of what goes on and so opinions are not based on all the information.

3. You are not allowed to be stressed about things that don't apply to you. Counselor N going on the camping trip at the last minute was stressful to him, and I worked with him directly. But the uproar and subsequent outrage/ stress that SEVERAL other staff had over the situation was ridiculous. You have to stay out of things that don't apply to you.

4. You will not always like your co-workers, supervisors, organization policies, decisions, etc. You have two choices- keep your mouth closed and deal with it or find another job. Voicing your opinion loudly about those things will get your fired in other jobs. Learn to deal with things- welcome to real life.

5. There's a difference between venting and group whining. I hear about the group whining and I know when you're crabby about something, but if you don't come to me directly, I can't do anything about it.

Camp is some of the staff's first job. Like asking them to understand the developmental stage of a 7 year old and not get frustrated when they lose their shoes, because that's what 7 year olds do, I know that I have to meet my staff where they are at. 19 year olds have a lot of opinions, don't fully understand what it means to be professional and don't realize that in future jobs, their boss isn't going to care about their feelings, well being or growth. I try really hard not to get frustrated with them, because all of this is normal and happens every year. It's not personal against me, it's just what happens.

I'm hoping that they are a little bit more focused this week, because I'm being patient, but I'm really over their neediness.