Leadership Myth #1 (of 5) - Your position as camp director makes you a leader.

(this is the first of 5 daily posts expanding on the recent blog post by John Erdman)
Myth #1 - Your position as camp director makes you a leader.

I am quickly coming up on my 1-year anniversary as the Director of Camper Support at Camp Tecumseh YMCA. When I start to tell people my position and what I do, most will say "Oh, so you are the camp director? What a great position for you and your family!"

Reality #1 - You become a leader by developing the trust, confidence and commitment of your staff.

The truth is that I don't run programming and I don't manage a staff. My commitment right now is to the amazing family of Camp Tecumseh supporters (donors) and by extension through their blessings and generosity the campers who receive "Camperships".

How do I develop trust, confidence, and commitment in this group of people? Some times it is difficult to remember that the daily actions I take are the ones building these values. There is no "end state" where I define success... but rather an ongoing commitment to take steps each and every day.

Trust is built over time through accountability. There are two factors that immediately come to mind with this: Acknowledgement of gifts, and Ongoing Reporting. Thank-you letters and acknowledgement of gifts needs to be automatic. For me, there isn't a question at this point of "whether" I will handle this for each gift... but rather "when". My commitment is to get a heart-felt thank you and acknowledgement into the mail within 24-48 hours of each gift being received. Period.

For repeat gifts (monthly, etc) a system is in place to make sure each gift is acknowledged but a year-end mailing is developed to give the donor a "one page" view of their annual support for tax deduction purposes.

Confidence through continued success.
Camp has a long history of success in fundraising. My goal is to continue to expand upon that in the Annual Fund in 2012 through new events like Brackets for Good and Project 441. Our Annual Making a Difference Fund will continue to make sure that camp experiences are available to some of the kids who need them most.

Commitment through relationships.
Developing commitment is a new experience for me. In my previous roles as a financial analyst, my relationships were mostly predetermined. A manager in my area of purview would use my support services to help them with budgeting and forecasting. Now, it is left to my discretion which relationships to pursue and where to devote my time.