Keep Showing Up (Cabin and Activity Leader Version)

  

VERSION 2

Here is a little fable of some Camp folks I have known. They were often leaders who have been around for at least a dozen years or more in Camp Director roles.

A Camp Folk Fable

In a time long before the pandemic I had switched to a new camp and was attending my first Camp of America Organization (CAO - not an actual organization, but you get my drift) meeting with the local CAO folks.

I was new to the area and new to the group as I had been in a different part of the country with a different group of CAO folks.

I met a Camp Director, who we will call, "Jim."

Jim had been at their camp as the Executive Camp Director for 15 years and was one of the first new folks I met as we both drove up and parked at the same time. I was grateful for having a person to meet prior to walking into the building.

Jim's camp was about two hours away and they seemed friendly and welcoming. I had a great meeting and Jim introduced me to several folks including the person who did the CAO Standards visit assignments. We departed that day and I felt like I would fit into this group of leaders.

As luck would have it, Jim's camp was up for a visitation that summer and I was assigned to be one of the visitors. We scheduled the visit and on the day of I drove down early and had a great visit with Jim, theirstaff team, and getting the low down on the camp and program. 

I was accostumed to doing visits for the prior decade (or more) in my previous capacity as a visitor (not my first rodeo, as they say). I asked Jim and several of their staff team who were present to make sure and write down the dates for that fall's OCA get together. 

Jim answered with, "I don't really go to many of those anymore. I have been doing this for over 20-years and I have learned all that they have shared."

I asked Jim if any of their staff and Jim responded, 'I can teach them everything I know, so they don't need to attend."

This is not me, just an astonished looking face.

It was an astonishing set of statements. For the next few years, I would always take the time to call and message Jim whenever there was a gathering of camp folks to make sure that I invited them.

I spoke to Jim on several occasions and was always doing my best to include them and make them feel welcome to attend. I always invited and hoped that they would attend with their staff team.

It never happened!

Also, not me. Just a sad and slightly annoyed look.

When I consider my lesson from Jim, I think about "showing up."

I posted about this a few summers ago on my BLOG titled: Mid Summer Praise Staff Suggestions.

After re-reading that and writing my fable today, I had some thoughts to share.

Perhaps, your leaders are like Jim. Or perhaps they are just overcome with the responsibility of it all.

I'd like you to consider the following:

Keep Showing Up: Leadership for Those Who Lead Camps and Kids

Keep showing up when the coffee hasn’t kicked in and your to-do list is already five deep. Show up with open eyes and a full heart, knowing the impact of your quiet consistency is louder than any speech. Camp doesn’t run on charisma—it runs on commitment, the kind that isn’t Instagrammable but is irreplaceable.

Keep showing up when the staff meeting goes off the rails, the schedule changes again, and one more camper forgets their lunch—or their medication—or their whole sense of self. Leadership is not about control; it’s about calm. Showing up grounded helps others find their footing, too.

Keep showing up with curiosity, not just competence. Ask the questions that matter—“How are you really doing?” “What do you need right now?” “What are we learning together?” Your willingness to be human, to be a student even as you lead, models the kind of servant leadership that folks actually trust and need.

Keep showing up for the tough conversations, the awkward feedback, the tension between what’s easy and what’s right. Camp servant leadership is not about being liked. It’s about being brave enough to tell the truth with love—and to invite others to do the same. That’s how trust is built.

Keep showing up when you're tired of being the one who always notices, always plans, always cleans up. Your consistency is forming a servant leadership legacy in the eyes of young people who are watching more than they’re listening. They may never say it out loud—but you’re becoming part of their servant leadership DNA.

Keep showing up not just for the mission but for the people. The shy camper. The frustrated cabin or activity leader. The rookie director. Each one needs someone who won’t give up on them. You are that someone. And every time you return, you reinforce a culture of belonging.

Keep showing up with your flaws and your faith, with your messiness and your magic. Youth development isn’t about perfection—it’s about presence. It’s about being real in a world full of filters. Your authenticity is the mirror they need.

Keep showing up even when the season ends, the tents come down, and the goodbye tears flow. Leadership is less about the title and more about the ripple. You planted seeds. You lit sparks. And long after campfire embers fade, your showing up will echo in their lives.

Keep showing up because servant leadership isn’t glamorous, but it’s holy work. It demands everything and rewards in moments—a grateful glance, a quiet breakthrough, a camper who comes back as leader. That’s how you know it’s working.

Keep showing up because in the end, that’s what leadership is: not a grand gesture, but a daily choice. To love. To guide. To grow. And to believe—especially when no one else does—that every kid, every leader, and staff member, every moment matters.