Full Name: Mary K Kitzmiller

UC Email: kitzmimk@mail.uc.edu
College: McMicken College of Arts and Sciences
Major: Psychology
Title of Project: Leadership Strategies of a Camp Counselor
Thematic Area: Leadership
Project Start Date: 31 May 2014
Project End Date: 9 August 2014

I. What?

This summer, I served as a head cabin counselor at YMCA Camp Ernst, a traditional overnight
summer camp located in Burlington, Kentucky. Even though camp has been my home away
from home for many years, it is difficult for me to articulate all of the responsibilities of my
position. My contract describes my obligations as living in a cabin with and serving as a
counselor for 10 to 16 campers, carrying out camp programs, and fulfilling other administrative
roles. And although these terms provide a framework for what I did this summer, when I reflect
back on the past ten weeks, I think of so much more: dancing in the rain with my campers when
afternoon program got cancelled, trying to lead a serious discussion about friendship before
bedtime, and when that failed, changing it to an impromptu glow-stick dance party instead, and
staying up until the early hours of the morning with one of my campers as she told me about her
parents recent divorce. Getting to be a positive figure for just a short period in my campers
lives has given me such a sense of purpose in my own life, and I am so grateful to have had this
experience.

In my proposal, I hoped to find the most efficient leadership strategy for my role in the
environment of a summer camp. Unlike previous summers, this year I had the additional
responsibility of serving as a leader to younger staff members in addition to my own campers.
My plan was to research and analyze different methods of leadership and apply them to my
language and behavior for a certain period of time. I would then record my observations in a
notebook and compare the effectiveness of that strategy on both the children and the younger
staff to previous weeks. At the start of each new session, I would share my reflections and plans
for the upcoming week with my fellow co-counselors at the staff meeting.

In some ways, the experience that I laid out for myself failed; it is difficult to only utilize the
tools from a single method of leadership when there are so many variables in any given week.
For instance, when I worked with the younger girls at camp, it was difficult to employ lenient
and permissive techniques when they required immediate attention in the smallest aspects of the
day, such as walking from activity to activity or serving themselves dinner. Likewise, when I had
a highly competent junior counselor in my cabin, it was difficult to be highly involved and active
in their coaching when what they really needed was independence to lead the cabin by
themselves.

However, in other aspects, my experience was just as valuable to me as if it had gone according
to plan. With my better understanding of a variety of leadership methods, I feel like I have to
tools to be a better leader in a multitude of situations. If anything, I learned that the uniting
characteristics of leaders everywhere is that they can adapt to the needs of the people that depend
on them. I have no doubt that I have become a more adaptable and versatile leader because of
this experience.

In my proposal, one of the learning outcomes that I highlighted was having the ability to relate,
communicate, and work effectively with peers. This was extremely relevant to my role this
summer, as I had the added responsibility of coaching a junior counselor throughout the week.
At first, I felt awkward and overbearing when I went to evaluate my junior counselors; I did not
want to make them feel embarrassed or get discouraged over simple mistakes that come from
inexperience. However, my original strategy of nonintervention was highly ineffective; rather
than teaching the younger staff how they can improve their counselor skills, I just assumed their
responsibilities in addition to my own. After I realized that this strategy was detrimental my own
leadership skills as well as my junior counselors, I decided to take a more active approach to
coaching. I sat down with the younger staff in my cabin at the beginning of each week and asked
them what their goals were for that week. After getting an understanding of what they wanted to
get out of camp, I could better instruct them on how to meet these goals throughout the session.

Another learning outcome that I outlined in my proposal was to identify the various
characteristics of a leader in a given situation/role. As I touched on before, the temperament of
the cabin, the competency of the other counselor, and my own natural inclinations made it very
difficult to only utilize the methods from a single strategy of leadership for the entire week.
Instead, I ended up drawing upon my knowledge of the whole breath of leadership, identifying
specific situations in which one strategy or the other would be most appropriate. For example,
one week, I felt obligated to lead songs or small games as my cabin walked up the hill to the
lake, because otherwise I risked campers running up ahead or falling behind. However, that same
day, I allowed my cabin free time between programs instead of trying to structure an activity,
because the dynamic between the girls was good enough to where they did not require constant
counselor involvement.

II. So What?

The first reading that I consulted for this experience was Say This, Not That: How to Build Trust
and Motivate Others with the Right Choice of Words by David Durand. In this text, Durand
outlines specific words, phrases, and behaviors that are highly effective for leaders to utilize.
Durand suggests that leaders are purposeful and dignified, and build relationships with the
people who they are leading. I found throughout the summer that being purposeful and dignified
was especially relevant to commanding the respect of the campers. For example, a child is more
likely to respond to someone who deliberately keeps a level head during stressful situation as
opposed to someone who panics or loses their patience. In addition, building a strong
relationship incentivizes the campers to listen and pay attention to their counselors.

The second of my three readings was The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in
History by Michael Hart. This text was particularly appealing to me because it gave me a more
concrete understanding of how I should model my behavior. Hart cites Mohammad as the most
influential person in history because of his influence in not only religion, but also world politics,
history, and culture. Although my sphere of influence is on a much smaller scale, this led me to
the conclusion that, in order to be an effective counselor, I needed to involve myself in as many
aspects of the campers experience as possible. For instance, rather than eating at the end of the
table at meals with the other counselors, I sat amongst my campers and asked them about their
day. By involving myself in a part of their day that staff usually is not involved in, I helped build
stronger relationships with my campers which in turn helped me lead the cabin more effectively.

My final reading was Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink. I
chose this book because I wanted to understand the motivation behind my campers actions in
order to encourage good behavior and discourage poor behavior. Pinks overall message is more
aptly suited for a workplace setting, however his message was relevant to me at camp. The most
valuable piece of information that I took away from this text is that people will thrive under
authority when given three things: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. I tried to incorporate these
three things into my agenda every day by allowing my campers to choose our next activity when
possible, thus giving them greater autonomy. Additionally, I encouraged my campers to work
towards certain goals during the week in order to gain a sense of mastery. For instance, I worked
with a child who had never held a bow and arrow before, but by the end of the week, she could
hit the smallest target in the archery range.

The greatest source of inspiration and information for my experience, however, were the
discussions that I led every Sunday at the staff meeting. To my surprise and delight, a few of my
co-counselors decided to join me in analyzing the effectiveness of each respective leadership
strategy. Their ideas, reflections, and advice made this project so much more meaningful and
credible to me. For instance, when my cabin was not responding to a certain technique I was
trying to employ, my co-counselors helped me come up with ways to modify it.

III. Now What?

This summer, I found that the two most important facets of leadership are adaptability and
communication. Since coming home from camp, I have continued to integrate them into my
everyday life. After this summer, I feel like I am more confident working with my peers in my
classes, as I have greater confidence in my own leadership skills and can better communicate my
ideas. I also feel like I am more prepared to engage in research in the field of developmental
psychology after having spent three months around children.

My audience for this assignment was my fellow senior staff at Camp Ernst. As mentioned
previously, I took time every staff meeting to share my reflection from the week prior, my goals
for the upcoming week, and how I planned on utilizing the techniques of the specific leadership
strategy I was focusing on. Sharing my ideas with my peers helped me gain confidence speaking
in front of a large group and gave me many great ideas on how to better carry out my plans. I
also felt like my experience had been validated when several of my co-counselors had similar
successes or failures using a particular method.

If I engaged in this experience again, I would have realized that the best type of leaders integrate
multiple strategies into their own method rather than trying to isolate a single technique. I would
also have recognized how my own natural inclinations make some strategies easier to carry out
than others. My advice to others about to engage in similar experiences is to be open to change
and to formulate an experience that is well suited with the responsibilities of the job.