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What does your camp culture look like?
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Want a crystal-clear look at a camp’s culture? Simple. Watch closely happens when the camp’s leader unexpectedly gets called out of a staff meeting early. Day camps, sleepaway camps, Y Camps, JCCs, you name it. Pattern is the same. When the leader has to leave the room, the camp culture reveals itself immediately. Liberty LakeIt’s easy to see exactly how this runs at the best camps. For instance, Andy at Liberty Lake Day Camp in New Jersey runs his morning staff meeting at 8 a.m. Consider a scenario where minutes before it ends, something urgent pulls him away. What would happen? Someone naturally steps up. The agenda keeps moving. The group maintains energy and focus. When Andy returns, the meeting wraps smoothly, and everyone heads out ready for the day. That’s not luck. That’s culture. When people know their roles, trust each other, and carry the mission forward even when “the boss” isn’t in the room, well, that’s where this all starts. The Three Possible OutcomesWhen a leader walks out mid-meeting, three macro things can happen: Outcome 1: The meeting continues on. The best-case scenario and what should be happening everywhere. Someone takes the lead. Group stays engaged. Trust and clear expectations are the building blocks here. Outcome 2: Everyone freezes. People look around a little (or a lot), unsure what to do. The meeting fizzles. Here, there’s a bit too much dependence and not enough initiative. Outcome 3: People disengage. Group jokes or complaints rise up. Or the worst case? They make fun of the person who just left. This means things are getting toxic. Outcome 1 is the ideal scenario, obviously, and what’s happening at the best camps. But the other two are on the table when the hiring process falls down even a little bit. Culture isn’t what’s discussed in staff training. It’s what happens when camp leaders have to take a five-minute break to handle something important. Why This Matters for HiringThrough every step of the hiring process, though especially during Step 1 discovery and Step 2 candidate evaluation, we’re considering things through this lens. When we visit a camp, we’re watching for these moments. Not the prepared tour or polished presentations. The unscripted reactions. How staff handle unexpected changes. What happens when leadership isn’t directing every move? When we evaluate candidates, we’re asking: Will this person build an empowered culture? Can and do they create environments where people take initiative, or do they centralize every decision? Are they all about the behaviors they want to see repeated? Culture is hard to define, but pretty easy to see and feel. Great culture starts by treating hiring with this reality in mind. And the test is simple: what happens when someone leaves the room? The answer tells you everything. Sincerely, Senior Consultant at Immersive1st Learn more about Immersive1st's Approach |
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A director in his ninth summer at a camp gets a phone call in the middle of July. It’s about the investors and the ownership structure. It’s about a possible sale nobody saw coming. The call ends. He has 600 campers on the property who are expecting a great summer. You probably already know which situation I am talking about. It has been about as close to national camp news as anything in the space gets. I am not naming names here. The specifics matter less than the leadership question...
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