3 Leadership Tips From Working CentriKid Camps

Serving on a CentriKid Camp team is like living inside of a Leadership Test Lab. It’s a place to grow, be stretched, learn, and try out new things. One of the things I learned along the way is that your title at camp doesn’t equal your leadership value. Most assume that the Camp Director is the one and only leader on the team. While the Director holds the majority of responsibility on a team, he or she isn’t the only leader. In fact, I’ve learned that every member of the team chooses whether or not to be a leader. Here are three tips that you can file away and keep with you for learning how to become a leader even if you don’t have an official leadership title.

• Build Relationships. Leaders know how to gain the respect and trust of their respective team members. This means spending time with people and getting to know them for who they are, not for what they can do for you.
• Be a learner. Leaders are learners. If you serve as a Team Leader, for example, and you are very interested in how to lead rec games, walk alongside your Rec Leader and learn from him. Ask him questions and soak up everything you can about how to lead as a Rec Leader. 
• Be a servant. Leaders are servants. Find ways to serve your camp team throughout the summer. See opportunities to help your fellow-staffers either cleaning up their track time, completing a mundane task for them, or even taking time to pray with them. It’s important to serve them out of love and genuine care, not to serve so you’ll be noticed by others.

Andy Dukes serves as Event Coordinator and works on all LifeWay Kids events, including CentriKid Camps and works closely with training our Production Leaders, Camp Directors, and Worship Leaders. Keep up with Dukes and his interests on Twitter.

The Law of Addition

I’ve recently been reading 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell. It’s been a great experience and I’ve learned so much. I’d love to share with you one law that really struck a cord for me. Leadership is so much more than just managing. 

The Law of Addition says that “Leaders add value by serving others”. Are you serving those who serve under your leadership? Something else Maxwell says is that every interaction between a leader and follower will either add or subtract from a person’s life. As a leader, it’s my job to reach out and make things better for the people who are serving under my leadership. 

I never want to be a person who subtracts instead of adds to a person’s life. Treat people well. Give them credit when credit is due. Brag on how well they are doing in front of other teammates or volunteers. Spend time with each person and make sure they know you care about them as a person, not just the job they are doing.

Jen Hall, our camp intern, loves reading a learning new leadership concepts. She is excited to use what she's learned as she directs CK2 at Campbellsville this summer. Keep up with Jen via twitter.

5 Ways to Prepare to Lead Well

Becoming a great leader doesn’t happen overnight. It is years of learning, reading, and experiencing compounded together… and the discipline of continuing to do those things even while leading.

At camp, we know that we can’t through our leaders into the summer without any preparation. We are careful to provide reading, plenty of experiences to exercise problem-solving, and training for leading at camp. Whether you are leading a team of volunteers in your church, leading your family, or working at camp leading a team or leading kids, you need to know where you are going and have a plan to get there.

Here are 5 ways to help you prepare to do just that:

1. Grow spiritually. Spend time in prayer and in the Word. Without being poured into, you will not be able to pour into those you are leading. Have daily time with the Lord. Have people pouring into you. Seek out a mentor from someone who has been where you are.
2. Read articles and books about leadership. Find some people who talk about leadership and read anything you can get your hands on. By reading tips and other people’s experiences you can curtail the process and not have to experience the same mistakes that they did. Tons of these are blogs or online articles, so they are free! Here are a few I’m a fan of: Seth Godin, John Maxwell, and Jim Collins.
3. Get to know your team, preferably before you begin leading them. Ministry happens best in the context of relationship, and the best way to lead is by ministering to those that you are leading.
4. Clearly define what success looks like and create a plan to succeed. You don’t have to know all the answers, and need to be honest from the very beginning about not having them. Prepare by knowing what you need to accomplish. Have a plan, and know that your plan can be flexible.
5. Ask those you are leading for insight. Let them know they are a valuable part of the team. Be the final decision maker, but collect ideas when you can and think they will be helpful. There is a massive amount of creativity and knowledge floating around in the people that you lead.

The Heart of Delegation

Leadership is a part of our culture at CentriKid Camps. It's lived out in everything we do...not only in camp, but throughout the year as well. It's more than having a position and telling people what to do. It's with a servant's heart that we want to lead and serve our teams.

Something I have a hard time carrying out in leadership is delegation. Even though it's not my favorite part, I had to ask myself, "why is it something I struggle with if it's such a huge part of leadership?" Here's the answer: It wasn't the act of delegation that I hated, it was the position of my heart. In my heart, I was trying to protect what others thought about me. I didn't want to be seen as a Director who wouldn't do the things that I told others to do. I didn't want to be the Director that sits around doing nothing while everyone else on the team is hard at work. But that's not the truth. I had plenty of other things that I needed to do and some of them were things only I could do.

I try to keep it in perspective and also think about how excited I was when my Director would give me a job or project that no one else was doing. It was a sign of trust. A sign that they knew I was the right person for that job and that I would do it well. It's because of those people who trusted me with tasks they may have also had a hard time delegating that I became a leader.

This summer, my goal is to build up leaders on my team, to help them grow, and to give them opportunities. Delegation can be a great tool for that! Camp is just one example, but you can use delegation as a way of building up leaders in your own ministry as well.

Jen Hall, our camp intern, loves to learn about leadership. She is excited to use what she's learned as she directs CK2 at Campbellsville this summer. Keep up with Jen via twitter.

What I'm Reading: 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

I’m a part of a Book Club. Now, this isn’t your traditional Book Club. This one consists of JE, Jessica, myself, and John Maxwell’s book 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. The Revised and Updated 10th Anniversary Edition, in case you were wondering. 

Once a week, we all walk down to the LifeWay cafeteria, grab a table, and talk about one of these laws. The laws are widespread leadership principles, such as influence, leader’s intuition, and respect. Maxwell is a great story-teller and I love how he takes stories and helps you really catch the vision of each law. 

At the end of every chapter, there is a section that helps you apply that specific law to your life. There are some questions to ask yourself, questions for others to answer about where you currently are in leadership, and also some suggestions of things that you implement in your life to grow your leadership. Being in the position that I am, coming up on my 2nd year of directing camp, I have loved evaluating my leadership skills and seeing potential for growth. But that’s not it, Maxwell doesn’t just want you to see the potential, but to equip you to actually strive for that growth. 

I’ve learned so much from this book and I would encourage anyone to pick it up and read it. As John Maxwell would say, leadership is a journey and it develops daily!

Check out our other posts in the “What I’m Reading” series:
What Andy is reading
What JE is reading

5 Ways to Prepare for an Interview with CentriKid Camps

Want to work camp this summer? Or next summer? This post is for you!

I spent a number of days this fall interviewing college students and young adults who are interested in getting hired by CentriKid Camps to serve on a team next summer. From my time interviewing, here are some things I've seen that are very important... 

1. Focus on your relationship with God. It's THE most important thing. We want staffers who are growing in the Lord, maturing in their faith, seeking to learn and be mentored by others, and not just doing the Sunday thing. A growing walk with the Lord is key, whether you get hired by us or not. 

2. Work with kids. Spend time with them, hang out with them, show us you really do enjoy ministering to kids outside of camp. One of the best ways for us to know that you'd be great at kids camp is to prove yourself in other areas of ministry. We love to see students who have a passion for ministry, especially kids ministry. Your experience shows! Don't have any? That's ok. Not everyone does, so be honest about where you are in life. VBS, student ministry, and even babysitting are all great places to start!

3.  Demonstrate that you are teachable. No one is perfect. Nobody has all the answers, and that's okay. Be willing to learn and grow. Do you listen to other people? Do you have older/wiser Christ followers pouring into you? Would your old boss say you asked questions and worked hard to learn? There's a big learning curve at camp, so a teachable spirit goes a long way!

4. Work hard. At school, at home, at work, at play... wherever you are, work hard! Don't be a slacker. Be the go-to person for any project or task that you've been given. 

5. Be a team player. You may be the shining star at school or at work, but when you get to camp, it's not all about you. You'll have a huge opportunity to be a part of a fantastic team of people who love kids and want to do great ministry! Demonstrate that you have experience being a team player!

This list is not exhaustive. Most of all, be yourself. We want to really get to know you. CentriKid is not a fit for everyone, and we certainly can't hire every person who applies. Don't stress out about that! God has a plan much bigger than camp for your life and for mine. Let's trust that, and do our part to be faithful to his calling. 

Sound fun? Apply here!

Meredith Teasley works on our recruiting team, and posted some "what not to do" tips on her personal blog. You can read more about what we look for in camp staffers by reading about our cultural imperatives. Follow Meredith on twitter to keep up with what she's doing when she's not on the road.

Be Careful Where You Lead

A few weeks ago, I went running jogging/walking at our local YMCA.  I decided to jog/walk on the indoor walking track because I hate the treadmill. I walked in, quickly glanced at the directional sign (telling you which direction to walk on which day of the week), and started running.  It was nice and quiet for a while, and then an older man started walking. Soon, two other ladies came to join us, followed by another man. Then, a YMCA employee walked in and just stood there for quite some time… probably about 2-3 laps. As I jogged and made my way around the track toward where he was standing, he looked me in the eye with a reprimanding facial expression and simply pointed at the sign. I froze.  I quickly gathered my thoughts and asked, “Oh, did you want me to change directions?”  Yes, silly! Read the sign.  Apparently Sun. looked an awful lot like Sat. when I walked in. It was Saturday, not Sunday, and I had inadvertently led all these people to walk in the wrong direction.

Why did no one say anything?

Why didn’t they do what they knew was right? I’m convinced that at least 1 of those 4 people could read, but am fairly certain that all of them could read. Instead of reading the sign and doing the right thing, they just followed. I can’t judge them. This wasn’t Hidden Camera or What Would You Do? But seriously… c’mon people.

Common sense lesson learned: read the sign. carefully.  Leadership lesson learned: Be careful where you lead. Some people will follow, just because. You could be leading them in the wrong direction. Leadership is a great privilege and responsibility. Don’t take it lightly.

Meredith Teasley loves to talk about leadership. In fact, she's always using silly opportunities like this to think of great leadership lessons for all of us! Meredith wants to improve her 5K time in 2012, so she's getting back into the habit of running (or jogging) at the track.

3 Ways Leaders Set Culture

I love camp. I am frequently reminded of how much camp has taught me about leadership, ministry, and relationships. One thing that I have learned over and over again is that leaders set the culture of the people they are leading whether that leader is leading a team of volunteers, is just the emerging “leader” of their friend group, or in the workplace.  Here are three ways that leaders set culture:

1. A leader’s attitude will be the attitude of the team.
   If you are unhappy with the way something is going, so will your followers, because they are just that: followers. If you are passionate about what God is doing in the life of your church and are supportive of your pastor and teachers, so will your volunteers. An upbeat, honest, and loyal leader normally means a healthy team. A leader who values their followers will be valued.
2. What a leader talks about is what your followers will think is important.
   If you are constantly talking about how your Sunday school teachers really need to leave their room clean on Sundays your volunteers will be great at that, but they will probably miss out on some of the more important things that they could be focused on. If you are constantly talking loving on kids, investing in their lives, and teaching them the Gospel, then that is what will be most important to your followers as well.
3. A leader’s expectations and training set the course for the work today and for the future.It’s not enough to just have a good attitude and talk about the things that are important. A leader’s job is to equip followers to become leaders. Even in a group of friends, if you are the leader, you are informally training your friends about what leadership looks like.  Especially in a church setting, you want to train and equip your team in the best ways that you can, frequently sharing resources, ideas, and tips to continue to get better.

What have you learned about leadership over the years? How would you say a leader sets the culture for a team?

Practical Steps for Change: Part 3 of a 3-Part Series

We have looked at how to know it is time to change and what makes change hard, and today we are going to look at some practical steps in making critical changes in your organization.

• Andy Stanley says, “Look at programs through the lens of mission and vision.”  He goes on to say, “Fall in love with your mission but date your programs”.  I love this one.  Never change what God has called you to do, but be willing to change how you do it.  At CentriKid, we tell staff that their job is to make sure that every single person who comes to camp has a life changing experience with Christ.  We do that through relational ministry.  When it comes to how we do worship, recreation, parties… it is all on the table of change. 
• Acknowledge what is not working and do something about it.  Too often we can’t seem to acknowledge that something is no longer working.  If we can’t do that, then we won’t make changes.
• Talk to your staff and volunteers.  People don’t need to win, but they do need to be heard.   We won’t all agree, and leadership is not a democracy; however, everyone needs to feel valued and heard. They need to know you appreciate them and their ideas.  There is no better way than asking them what they think.
• Get key leaders and critics on your team.  Talk to them in private, and talk to them first. They will influence the feelings and attitudes of others.
• Communicate change clearly, honestly, and often.  Once you have made a decision to change, communicate it as clearly as you can.  Let them know why you are making changes, when change will happen, and how it will affect them.  Be honest with people.  They can tell when you are selling change rather than just being honest with them.  People want you to be transparent with them because transparency is honesty and selling feels dishonest.  Communicate change in as many places and ways as you can.  The more people hear it, the more they understand it and they begin to communicate it.  Once that happens, they begin to own the change as well.  Many times, I have watched my ideas being shared by others and it sounds like it was their idea.  When that happens, you know you have transitioned through change effectively.



6 questions you need to ask before hiring your next employee.

Whether selecting staff for a full-time position or short-term setting, hiring is critical to your success.  We believe that our CentriKid summer staff are the greatest asset to our program, so our selection process is very important to us.

I’ve chatted with other camp organizations (Kanakuk, Pine Cove, YMCA) and also companies hiring employees who are in the same demographic of our summer camp staff (Apple, Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A). Although there are no guarantees, you can improve your odds of making great hires by finding out answers to these questions.  These factors apply for volunteer positions as well.  You don’t want volunteers in your church or ministry that cannot be counted on.

Here are 6 questions you need to ask before hiring your next employee:

1. Are there character issues?  Character is the number one factor in any situation ... we won’t compromise here. 
2. Does his chemistry fit our team?  There are lots of great folks out there who just aren’t a fit for the team or the culture you are creating.  Make sure that new teammates will be a valuable addition, not a source of unnecessary tension.
3. Is he able to do the work we need done?  Competence is too often sacrificed just because the applicant is a friend or a good person.  Although competence doesn’t rise higher than character, it is a must-have.  We train extensively for summer camp, but we can’t start from scratch.  Even for folks with little experience, I work to find out if the applicant can demonstrate an ability to accomplish things in other areas of life.
4. Is this person teachable?  Many jobs have “other duties as assigned” that require flexibility and skill development.  Particularly in full-time positions, the job may change during the tenure of this employee so you want to have a person who can adapt and grow with a changing situation....not one who is stuck in the past or resistant to change.
5. Does he have computer skills?  Our work and ministry require much more online content to be developed and delivered, and it will only increase as technology continues to evolve.  Make sure your teammates can function in the online world because it is a must for the future.
6. Can he demonstrate a strong work ethic?  In an interview setting, work ethic is one of the toughest things to determine because an applicant will always answer questions with what you want to hear.  Time spent on an project is a great way to determine work ethic, and another way to gain some insight is to find out about what the applicant considers “a tough project they had to work really hard on.”  

Commit your selection process to prayer.  Truly seeking the Lord can prevent you from making careless errors or rushed decisions.  

We got the importance of character, chemistry, competence from reading Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels.  Next on my reading list is Worlds Apart: Understanding the Mindset of 18-25 Year Olds.  I am always working to improve my knowledge and skills as an interviewer for summer staff and as a leader.

This is obviously not an exhaustive list ... what other important things do you find out before hiring a new employee?  What resources have helped you improve your selection skills?

If you know of great folks who love kids and want to work hard at camp, we would love to talk with them about serving at CentriKid Camps this summer.  You can direct them to our online application or have them email us with any questions.