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When It’s Time to Make A Change
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September can be a split-screen month for summer camps. Most are full steam ahead into fall, getting ready for next summer. And that’s always a great feeling. But a few just wrapped July and August, walking straight into the biggest change an organization can face: an empty seat at the very top. It's what happens when a director leaves, and now the camp is making a change. Sometimes this looks like an interim director coming into the fold. And other times, a different kind of transition is needed. In the Fall, there's some time on the shot clock, though not forever time. There are two kinds of questions often being asked. 1: What kind of leader do we want in here next? 2: What should this place be going forward? When it's simply a question of getting a new leader in, an interim director will often do the job. They can walk into the camp office, take a look around, and help shepherd everything to the next person. I've watched a lot of retired executive directors do this work, and plenty of them are great at it. But when it's a question of what kind of place you want to be, that often requires a different kind of transition. And it's where a team of three, like we have at Immersive1st, works. Managing the day-to-day operations, managing the finances, and working with the board and the steps forward is all part of the work. A moment like this requires a whole different kind of capacity. The camp is evaluating how it's been operating, what it's operating as, and what it should be going forward. That deserves to be looked at in full: the operations, the money, and the governance, each with someone whose full attention lives there. This kind of move also means the board doesn’t have to bet the next chapter on any one personality. Three sets of eyes with three areas of expertise means one honest picture of where the camp is standing in the moment. And it’s worth mentioning there’s a second version of this we’ve seen before as well. A camp has a very talented number two, and that person is eventually going to take the top role. That person doesn't need a new boss for a year. They need mentorship on the operations side, financial support, and governance support around them while the transition happens. So if your camp is somewhere in that second question this fall, wondering what this place should be going forward, that's exactly the conversation to have right now, while there's still time on the clock. Sincerely, Senior Consultant at Immersive1st PS: Most of these conversations are just thinking the moment through together with a board or a director. If that's useful to you, let's talk. Learn more about Immersive1st's Approach |
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