Inspirational Initiative-Taking - First Class Counsellors #15
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Inspirational Initiative-Taking - First Class Counsellors #15
Every all-star camp staff we know is an excellent initiative-taker. Here’s how to learn it, and do it.
Welcome to episode 15 of First Class Counsellors!
A raised hand. Someone picking up garbage. A voice, calling out in the darkness, “what else can I do?”.
A Camp Director’s dream!
How have we not talked about this yet!?
There may not be any studies to back this up, but it definitely wouldn’t be outlandish to say that any camp staff that would be called “great”, is likely great at taking initiative.
Staff who know what needs to be done, do it, and ask what else can be done is so incredibly valuable for any organization. When you have a camp staff full of people that take initiative, it means that things are always kept clean, that camp programs are always being made better and that in general, that people are making good decisions.
For you as a counsellor, having an initiative-mindset is like having a superpower. The intuition to see and solve a problem, or better-yet anticipate a problem and get ahead of it will make you a dream employee wherever you go.
That being said, if you’re still working on this superpower, fear not! It, like many all-star qualities, takes time to develop.
Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to wait for the summer to hone your initiative skills?
Well, wait no more! This episode is for you!
Tune in to this episode of First Class Counsellors to hear Oliver and Matt discuss how to develop this critical camp staff skill. You’ll hear about:
The definition of initiative in the summer camp context
Common places at camp where all-star camp staff know to take initiative
How to be appropriately recognized for the great initiative-taking that you will do
How to positively affect your camp’s culture by encouraging others to take initiative
Many more practical ways to strengthen your initiative-taking muscles this summer
We hope you enjoy this episode, and most importantly, find it useful!
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If you have any feedback, or a suggestion for a future FCC show, send Matt an email at matt@gocamp.pro
Get Ready - Counsellors, do this NOW to level up your counselling skills
Oliver:
Make a list of the behaviours you want to see from yourself this summer and make a plan on how you’ll work on those. Make an action plan 10 items per behaviour and keep that list on you in the summer. Behaviour change takes time!
Matt:
Make a personal packing list for camp. Then share it with your friends, share it with camp to give to new staff, maybe even make a video of yourself packing for your camp to share on social media!
Host Links
Oliver Gregan, Summer and Families Camp Director at YMCA Camp Jewell
Matt Honsberger, Executive Producer of Podcasting at Go Camp Pro
What is First Class Counsellors?
Camp Directors, this Podcast isn’t for you. It’s time to delegate! First Class Counsellors is for your counselling staff, the ones who are on the ground, playing with kids and changing lives.
Each week, we’ll cover practical and accessible tips that will level up your camp counsellor skills. These are things every counsellor should know, but that you may not have time to teach in staff training.
Our two hosts, Oliver Gregan, Summer and Families Camp Director at YMCA Camp Jewell and Matt Honsberger from Go Camp Pro are excited to be able to provide this resource to camp counsellors and up and coming staff, who they believe, have the most important job at camp.