2014 PC vs Mac - A Servant Leadership Story

(40 Summers 40 Lessons Series)

Despite the title of this story, I’m not here to extol the virtues of any particular computer. In fact, I’m here to share about two vastly different leadership styles.

 
With that, I’d like to share a bit about Mac. He came to camp to help lead our leaders in training program (LITs). He had an excellent interview and he talked a great deal about service. Mac’s references talked about his great work with teens. Mac said he was looking for a new opportunity to learn and grow as part of a team.
 
PC had been there a while and was our operations leader and essentially, our second in command if that is a style you would be familiar. PC had taken it upon himself to specialize in multiple certifications in different areas of camp. I had one staff person refer to PC as an overachiever.
 
Mac wanted to be creative and try different things with the program. PC was always putting schedules together and creating order in what many camp folks know as chaos.
 
This is their story from one late evening at camp:
 
It was about the middle of the fifth week of camp. Folks had begun to settle well into their roles and the initial round of storming was nearly two or three weeks in the past. I had gone home (across the street) for the evening and most of this is what I collected as to what actually happened and those involved.
 
PC was working at a station in the office (where internet was available) to download and create the next sessions rosters, activity list, check in forms for parents, the nurse and swim test. His work never seemed to be complete, yet he was always working a week ahead to make sure that operationally things ran well. PC also ran all the risk management issues for camp and he would often meet and review drills with key staff like the Aquatics Leadership staff. He helped prep their weekly swim tests and lifeguard drills as well as often substituting himself to give guards a break throughout the day. It was just a way to be of service.
 
Mac was in the office late that evening working on plans for the end of the next session of the LIT program. In spending well over a month at camp, Mac was indeed making great headway with his LITs and they were enthralled with his personality. They loved him and each day, they wanted to be more like him, adopting his style of language, and wanting to spend more time with him. They wanted to hear more of what he had to say; and in turn he wanted them to hear more of what he would say. He spent most of his days weighing in with other staff as to how his LITs needed to be managed. Often, Mac was now telling activity leaders what his expectations were for each individual LIT assigned and how he wanted to check in with them each day.
 
In walked one of the unit leaders, James, who was looking for advice from our assistant program director (Jeff) on an issue in the unit. Mac, overhearing decided that he would intervene. The conversation went nowhere fast as Mac decided to offer his opinion on how James needed to crack down on his people to make sure they were following the rules. He told James to “man up” or he would get run over. The Jeff’s jaw dropped and asked Mac to excuse himself from the conversation. Mac decided that his opinion was the only one that mattered and it was about time that James learned a thing or two about managing people. He quickly pointed out how his LITs followed all his rules and didn’t do anything without checking with him first.
 
By the time that Mac had denigrated James several more times, PC walked into the room overhearing the escalating voice. At that point, PC excused everyone (with the exception of Mac) from the room in what was later described to me as the most commanding tone that any of them had ever heard. Jeff called me on my cell and as I answered and heard the shakiness of his voice as he asked for me to come back over because “PC and Mac were having it out in the office.”
 
Within minutes I had come back across for my home and met James and Jeff in the driveway in front of the office. I could hear Mac inside but was unable to make out what he was saying. Jeff told me that Mac had been inappropriate with James and when PC intervened, Mac got boiling hot. I walked into the office.
 
PC was sitting in a chair, hands clasped in what appeared to be a listening stance that I had grown to expect from him. Mac was pacing and talking about how people at that camp needed to manage their staff of he would do it himself. I sat on the desk with my back up against the wall and asked “I’d like to know what has been going on, Mac, let’s start with you.”
 
Within 15 minutes, we had reached a state of truce and agreements as to how we would proceed and behave. I can’t claim credit for that since PC had already initiated most of what needed to occur. He wanted there to be growth as a result of the experience and I concurred. The rest of that summer became about the leadership cult of Mac versus the value of service from as exemplified by PC. Lessons learned.

MAC vs PC - lessons in servant leadership

 
I am sure by now, it is clear what the styles of leadership are demonstrated here. I heard the term "Servant Leader" as far back as early as the late fall of 1985 when I was asked by Wally Wirick (one of my first mentors at Bluff Lake and beyond) to consider working at camp that next summer. He and Sam Brown (who ran the downtown YMCA in Pasadena) had just spent a retreat in San Diego learning with Rich Collato (also a Y mentor) about how to support your staff to success so we are all successful.

 
That journey of servant leadership and the subsequent displays of the traditional hierarchical leadership have equipped me to know that the better model is PC over Mac. 
 

2013 - George – George – George (Lessons in Planning)

 

George - George - George - 3 types of leaders and planners.

2013 - George – George – George (Lessons in Planning)

(40 Summers 40 Lessons Series)

Top-Down Planning

“George” was the nickname of a major non-profit organizations attempt at creating a universal membership and program management system. At the turn of this century, this agency spent millions of dollars and thousands of man hours working on what was thought to be the best system that would provide for the needs of everyone of the agencies in the country. It turns out that as they planned and spent, no one ever thought to ask the front line staff who dealt with the agencies customers as to what they thought or perhaps needed.

The best intentions are often misguided and I believe that top down planning to determine the needs of those on the ground require a great deal of ego at that the top.

Many of you may know and have been a part of the long term or strategic planning process. It is (in the past) about taking a group of stakeholders to a retreat and having a consultant lead mission planning and "wordsmithing" and then that plan becomes a dust catcher on a shelf. (Oversimplified version, I know) 

There is a great article by Henry Mintzberg (Harvard Business Review) called, “The Fall and Rise of Strategic Planning” that may interest you. Feel free to do an online search of that publication and make sure to note the year, 1994.

As the leader of an organization like a camp, solid leadership is necessary. Often times to be able to look out on the landscape and position what and who is needed to help define the plan. Get those folks in place, help equip them, and then get out of their way.

Middle-Out Planning

I have participated in several planning sessions with middle management in my career. The pattern that I have discovered can be summed up from a controller that I worked with. His name, George, had spent 11 years in that organization and he spoke about how change was needed at every level of the organization.  

He spent his work week providing the much need financial analysis and controls in regard to cash flow and planning. Working in a multi-million dollar non-profit, his work is vital when it comes to having accurate information for annual reports provided not only to donors and volunteers, but also for the needed 990 reports for tax purposes. And, when it came to seeking funding from foundations in the form of grants, the information had to show not only accuracy, but how a need would be met and how many individuals would be impacted by the funding.

Back at our planning session, there was discussion of how things needed to flow with-in the organization. I suggested a stream lined system for budget planning. This particular organization was using Lotus as a planning tool. Those of you unfamiliar with Lotus, I am not talking about the classic 1957 car manufacturer. I am talking about the software designed in 1982 and discontinued by IBM in 2012. Let me restate that - 1982.

This particular planning was taking place in the last decade. George said, “Lotus is the single best software ever designed to manage budget planning.”

What I learned that day, is that most of the time when middle management is involved in making plans and decisions about the needs and influence to better serve customers, they often make decisions that reinforce what their needs are and not that of the customer.

Relying on the defenders of the status quo is a misguided approach to planning and leadership. Doing the same things to support those who are adapting to change on the front lines often leads to more of the same.

Bottom-Up Doing

George Finnerty was a volunteer I worked with for nearly a dozen years and I learned so many lessons and this is perhaps the best one. He would just say something like ask yourself, “how does this help camp? If it is a good decision, which will help the kids, then that’s the right thing to do.”

I began to use that filter on so many levels. Over the years, working with young staff and helping they realize that because they want to try and do something “new and innovative” it had to pass the test. “How does this benefit the camper experience and fit in our mission and values?” I never asked the question in that manner. I asked questions that helped me understand what they had in mind and in my head; I was seeking to answer that question on behalf of the participants.

As I have served at different camps and organizations, I have hit the
“That’s the way we have always done it” wall on numerous occasions. It is sometimes mislabeled as “tradition.” One of my favorite leaders, Catherine Meyer, recently shared that one of her take a way lessons of working at camp was, "Adhering to tradition for the sake of tradition is, 99 times out of 100, more harmful than adapting and apologizing for harm done to make a space safe for everyone.

Those of you who have used a fax machine to send a copy of a flier or letter, you know that upon receiving that fax and making copies of it to share with others; there is often degradation in the ink and image.

In camps (and many organizations), I have often times believed that some “traditions” are just that. Someone had a great image of a program, activity, game, or event. It was replicated for several seasons. That original provider or leader left and the program was replicated for several more seasons. At some point one of the campers who saw the activity happen, became part of the staff. That person made modifications and the activity continued.

Hard to read, imagine this after copying it, faxing, copying and faxing again.
(I did not attend this event)
(It may have been found in a lodge at camp after cleaning up from summer staff 1981)

At some point, the program becomes a memory of what happened when someone who was not even there, provides their version of what was once a “great game.” Just like a copy of a fax, that had been copied and faxed and sent again several times and faxed again. I am not sure that is what Alexander Bain intended when he invented the FAX machine in 1843 (not a typo).

I take one of my planning lessons from George Lucas. He storyboards all his stories that lead to his film making. As a visual learner, I love my color coded note cards and using them to plan training sessions, pair staff leaders based on their personality types, and even take notes on calls and training sessions.

Here’s what I know. When planning for the future and the near future, always make sure that you included those who are using your product, service, or program. Leadership at the top should be listening (carefully) to what is being said at that level. Avoid the approach of using or listening to information from those in the middle. They are often just looking to perpetuate their role and function for fear of losing a misguided notion of control.

I have never been in control of anything. I ask my staff who is in charge of camp. And I wait as they reach the same conclusion that it is and always will be the campers (customers/members). They know it and they deserve the best from us in planning and leading in a manner that serves.

1983 - Here’s What I Know (Invite to Podcast)

ALF Circa 1985ish at Camp

 

Here’s what I know:

As a leadership development professional I have worked with over 53,000 young people. Those experiences have been in outdoor programs helping influence their skills through amazing camp and leadership opportunities.  

My family and I moved to the United States when I was 4 years old. And in celebration of our 50^th anniversary two years ago, I spent that year reflecting on individuals and lessons that have made me who I am. I’d like to share a lesson about two of those great mentors and one of those years.

Here’s what I believe.

Small moments often teach you life’s greatest lessons. It was Benjamin Disraeli, who served as the British Prime Minister twice during Queen Victoria’s reign, and was quoted as saying, “The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.”

In 1983 as an 18 year old, I was working for a local camp in Southern California and I was one of the cabin leaders.

It was during that week that I discovered who I was to become. One evening, my junior leader, Mike, and myself were taking a break.  It was raining and a bit cold so we went down to the KYBO to stay warm and dry.

Now a KYBO is a restroom and shower facility. There were some benches in the shower area and we sat there to stay warm and talk.

At one point the camp director, Ron Perry came in to say hello. Now Ron is this big gregarious guy who was one of those people that everyone just wanted to be around. He was tall with lots of curly hair and he spoke in this sing song mesmerizing way. I am sure each of you has known someone like this.

So we are in the KYBO, oh did I mention that KYBO, besides being a radio station outside of Barstow California - at camp KYBO or K Y B O stands for “keep your bowels open.”

When you’re at camp it’s really an important place to know where to go.

So we’re in the KYBO and in walks Ron and he starts asking us questions and just checking in. After a few minutes he asked, “So, how long is your break?” I told him we had to get back up to our cabin now. This is where it got interesting. Out of no-where, he pulls two soda bottles out of his back pockets and says, take 20 more minutes, I’ll go and watch your cabin for you.

He handed us the sarsaparilla and walked out. I turned to Mike and said, “Someday I want his job.”

I learned 4 things that day and later I found out from my mentor, John Maxwell, that those were simply Laws of leadership.

You see, Ron had this great moment of leadership with me. His influence sent me down this road and that impact was that simple.

By the time I was 25 years old I was the director at that camp. His moment of serving others, in that case Mike and I, he truly was adding value to what we were doing.

And since then, I have had the opportunity to influence the lives of so many at four different YMCA camps, a 4H camp, a Boys and Girls Club Camp and several Scout camps.

You see that day back in that KYBO, it wasn’t really what Ron said. It was really how he made me feel that had a lasting impact on everything I have done over the last 40 summers. He connected with me on an emotional level. I totally bought into him as a leader and then took on that mission and vision that he set. He gave me a reason to follow him.

As a youth and leadership development professional I have lived to demonstrate those lessons every day.

You see, campers find riches in themselves through the activities that build and nurture self esteem, personal growth and what I call positive risk taking.

My vision now is to carry those lessons forward in a camping program that I have been developing that serve teens and share those leadership lessons and so much more.

My promise is to help develop the best leaders that lead and guide campers and to discover within themselves their own riches.

I am eternally grateful to Ron and John and so many others. I want to thank all of you for checking in today and helping me keep my promise.

I am AL Ferreira and I have the greatest job in the world…serving others.

 

Part of this story is from our latest podcast so, please consider listening and following the Youth Development Professional guidebook (I’m the co-host) podcast at:

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Podbean Link

 

2001 – A Reason For The Rules

Movies we saw in 2001

(40 Summers 40 Lessons Series)

When my family and I lived "up the hill" at camp (1998-2002), we very seldom went to the movies. Every now and again, I would take my two older kids *Brian was yet to be born) to see a movie on a weekend when we did not have a group in camp. It was a 38-mile trip each way, so these occasions were special and I wanted them to be memorable.

Lord of the Rings, Shrek, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Spy Kids, Cats and Dogs, Atlantis were all movies we saw that year.

We went to a multiplex in Redlands, California and Saturday afternoons filled with families some of whom attended camp during the summer or outdoor education season.

We would watch the movies and often, Alec and Kelly (my two older kids) would want to see another movie. Our early afternoon could turn into an early evening and often times did. I make this point only to make sure that I wanted my children to understand right and wrong. So, when we would watch a second movie, I would walk them out of the theater and we would get tickets for the additional movie. Often times, the kids would complain about having to do that as they watched other people walk out of one theater screen and into another.

I have always felt that when you begin to break the rules with children (and adults), they will start to determine that they have an exemption or a pass. Therefore, they can pick and choose the rules/laws that they want to follow. After all, they are special since that time that dad (or mom) allowed them to break that rule.

My kids always knew (from me) that they had to respect the rules even more so than any other children in camp did. I have to admit that none of us is perfect and all of us made mistakes or asked for something that may have stretched the rules. I think for my older kids and looking at their second and third grade faces during those outings I tried to provide for them, boundaries. I cannot say that my children always followed the rules or that they sometimes tried to get away with “their dad is the boss” routine.

I saw a post recently on a camp community social media site from someone (a camp director) mentioning how they sometimes take “director’s privilege” with the rules at their camp. As the director, I often thought about how my family and I were literally in the picture window of camp. At that time, our home was just 32 steps from the dining hall and our front window from our dining room faced the pool area at camp.

I believe, (having learned over and over from camp examples) that we all do better when we live with boundaries in our lives. How do young brains process which rules are okay to have and which are okay to exempt ourselves?

Learning to set boundaries is a great skill and I believe that camp is a great place to do so. What better incubator than a 750 square foot cabin with 7 campers and two leaders.

Here are just a few examples. Campers and staff often learn emotional boundaries around inappropriate topics, dismissing emotions or emotional dumping. Time and energy boundaries about adhering to a schedule, lateness, or timeliness to activities and meals. Physical boundaries with proximity, touch, unwanted comments about life style and choices. Mental boundaries and the belief that one can have their own thoughts, values, and opinions. Material boundaries around stuff that each brings to camp and sharing.

I believe, like my mentor John Maxwell, that “a leader who knows the way, goes the way and SHOWS THE WAY.” You can do so by setting good boundaries for everyone you influence.

1980 - Day Camp Days

Temple City YMCA (Circa 1980-81) My Day Camp Group

(40 Summers 40 Lessons Series)

On July 11, 1980 I walked into the Temple City YMCA (a branch of the Pasadena YMCA). Imagine a suburban neighborhood 2 bedroom house with a backyard pool. That was our YMCA in Temple City.

It was this day that I met with the day camp staff for the first Friday afternoon meeting in preparation for the coming week and my first day as an employee of the YMCA. I was 15 (a few weeks from 16) and had gotten the job because my sister, Jackie, was working with her friend Sandy Nordin, whose mom (Maxine) was the Program Director for that YMCA. It was truly who you know. In attendance was Tony Del Negro, Lisa Russell, Jackie, Sandy, Maxine, Julie Tindall and several other staff.

Later I would meet  Dave Hagen, Bill Gagliardi, Bob Montes, Ron Perry, Wally Wirick, Sam Brown, Auggie Mayne, George Finnerty, Ron Clear, Art & Barbara Wetton, Don Olsen, Marcel Schwantes, Ken Stein, Robin Stein, Patty Hart, EJ Lugo, Brian Kelly, Peggy Conklin, Matt Shea, Josh Greene, Megan Kelly, Paul Cary, Steve Waterman, Julie Czochara, Michael Garcia, 100s of volunteers, over 2000 staff and nearly 53,400 campers that have helped me become a better servant leader and human.

It was and has been the greatest learning experience and I had no idea that it has allowed me on a path to be a Servant Leader over the last four decades of my life. There have been friendships forged that have lasted that long and helped me develop of sense of creating community. It is servant leadership at five different agencies (6 camps) and in the Youth Development Leadership field.

I’ve found that my best days are the ones where peace has emerged from struggle. It is in this struggle that each day has ended and like most camps, we have had difficult moments. It is in that strife that emerges the love and respect as well as all those leadership opportunities.

A camp life I have had the blessing to share (and be supported by) my wife Lee Anne, and our children, Alec, Kelly, and Brian.

Today’s marks 40 years in service. Happy 40 years to all those whom I have had the privilege to work and to serve.

2015 – Is it time yet?

Support Staff Team Pictured is not the person (s) described in the article.

(40 Summers 40 Lessons Series)

Several summers back, we had a new staff member that joined our directing team (known as Support Staff for the camps I have served) who had never been part of our team. As part of our staff training and orientation – we do a campfire skit called “Is It Time Yet?”

The basic structure of the skit is a line of folks with their legs crossed and each one in turn asks the next person, “Is it time yet?” (For the full skit, look below at the end of this story for the script.)

I decided to sit next to our newest staff person, and she decided to share how this skit worked with me. As she muttered the directions of what was happening under her breath to me. Her enthusiasm for the skit was contagious and it seemed she believed I had never seen this one before.

In John Maxwell’s book, How To Lead When Your Boss Can’t (Or Won’t), I recalled the section on catching your boss’s enthusiasm. John wrote, “It’s much easier to work with someone when you share an enthusiasm.”

There is no doubt that I am and have always been wholly enthusiastic about campfire. I sign with all the songs. I laugh at all the jokes, even if it is the same “carrot joke” that I have told nearly 1000 times. I believe campfire is a great program in camp and it allows those of us with the least talent to have our “Rock Star” moments.

Campers who have never gotten in front of their family let alone any outside group have blossomed and thrived from the experience. I have had dozens of parents who call me after summer and ask me about a song or skit that their child tried to share in front of a family gathering when they had never done anything like that in their life. The parents often ask, “What is the punch line for that joke” or “is that song lyric really about little kids losing their pants as the Titanic sank?”

My point in sharing this is that there a few and far between songs, skits or stories from camp, that I have never heard or seen. For 6 years, one of the camps I served had campfire programs nearly every night of the week.

So, back to our new staff person that season. In that Maxwell book, John asserts that “Good leadership is where you are challenging leaders above you to continue growing.” I saw that she was contributing to the team and if given the opportunity, she would continue to share that at every level of camp.

Her energy about helping lead was endearing and I knew that she would do well helping lead others in her new role at camp. It was clear that she was not afraid of leading her new “boss” and my high school drama teacher always told me that I took direction well.

I had a decision to make - Do I reinforce that I have done this skit at least 100 times or was it better for her to help “lead up” and just stay out of her way to teach what she was clearly happy and proud of knowing.

“It’s okay to stay out of someone’s way while they decide to teach, lead, share, or direct a skit.”

IS IT TIME YET (SCRIPT)

5-8 Actors standing, sitting (or laying) with left foot crossed over right and right arm crossed over left.

First Person in line turns to the second person and asks: "IS IT TIME YET?" Second person responds, “I’ll check.”

Second Person turns to third and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Third person responds, “I’ll check.”

Third Person turns to third and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Fourth person responds, “I’ll check.”

Fourth Person turns to fifth and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Fifth person responds, “I’ll check.”

Fifth Person turns to sixth and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Sixth person responds, “I’ll check.”

And so on for the total number of actors participating.

Last Person says: "NO" And the word is passed back to the first person, one actor at a time

After a lonnnnnnnng pause,

First Person in line turns to the second person and asks: "IS IT TIME YET?" Second person responds, “I’ll check.”

Second Person turns to third and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Third person responds, “I’ll check.”

Third Person turns to third and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Fourth person responds, “I’ll check.”

Fourth Person turns to fifth and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Fifth person responds, “I’ll check.”

Fifth Person turns to sixth and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Sixth person responds, “I’ll check.”

And so on for the total number of actors participating.

Last Person says: "NO" And the word is passed back to the first person, one actor at a time

After a lonnnnnnnng pause,

First Person in line turns to the second person and asks: "IS IT TIME YET?" Second person responds, “I’ll check.”

Second Person turns to third and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Third person responds, “I’ll check.”

Third Person turns to third and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Fourth person responds, “I’ll check.”

Fourth Person turns to fifth and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Fifth person responds, “I’ll check.”

Fifth Person turns to sixth and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Sixth person responds, “I’ll check.”

And so on for the total number of actors participating.

Last Person says: "NO" And the word is passed back to the first person, one actor at a time

After a another FINAL lonnnnnnnng pause,

First Person in line turns to the second person and asks: "IS IT TIME YET?" Second person responds, “I’ll check.”

Second Person turns to third and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Third person responds, “I’ll check.”

Third Person turns to third and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Fourth person responds, “I’ll check.”

Fourth Person turns to fifth and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Fifth person responds, “I’ll check.”

Fifth Person turns to sixth and asks, "IS IT TIME YET?" Sixth person responds, “I’ll check.”

And so on for the total number of actors participating.

Last Person says: "It’s Time" And the words “It’s Time” is passed back to the first person, one actor at a time

Just after the first Actor gets the word “It’s time”, they all switch to right foot over left and left arm over right.

THE END

1984 - 26 Miles Across The Sea (The Myth of Kumbaya - Part 3)

Catalina Island, California and backpacker on trail.

26 Miles Across The Sea

(40 Summers 40 Lessons Series)

As far back as 1971, I was camping with my family. We had been in the United States less than 3 years and our family friends Jerry and Suzanne Watts had invited our family to their annual summer vacation where they camped on the beach near Ensenada, Mexico.

I have spent all (and parts of) every summer since 1980 at camp (day and overnight). I have also had camp with leadership lessons throughout the year.

In 1984 was a long and wet winter where I recall Southern California had had a particularly low altitude snow. That means that we had those crisp nights and the grass was always dewy to the frost point.

I can recall running on many mornings where the snow on the San Gabriel Mountains seemed to be just above Altadena (maybe 1500 feet above sea level) and as you traveled east, Mount Baldy (4193’) had that great pure white snowy look with clouds in the fore ground.

My friend Chris and I decided that our schedule at Cal Poly Pomona could take on a one credit backpacking class that we had been talking about for the past two years.

“Coach,” as we called him met with the class for 8 weeks followed by a spring trip that was (scheduled for four days) out on Catalina Island. A long weekend where we had the opportunity to apply the cumulative lesson’s we had discussed and studied during the first 8 weeks of the class.

As each week wore on, we discussed the different styles of equipment and gear that where appropriate to backpacking. Coach and his wife, Mrs. Coach, would share stories about their family trips with their two sons and their Peace Corps experiences in China. Mrs. Coach always had some awkward story about life in China and was very old fashioned in her tales that often shifted to culturally inappropriate.

There were in fact two different classes that met on backpacking and the trip was a combined group at the end of the quarter (Cal Poly being a 10 week and finals quarter school).

We met in San Pedro one early Thursday morning to catch the ferry out to the island. As the song goes; 26 miles across the sea and the ferry took under two hours.

The group consisted of 17 students and the 2 coaches and of course, Mrs. Coach. We boarded the ferry and Mr. Coach and wife took off on their own boat to Two Harbors. I am not entirely sure, why we had not all stayed together and traveled on their boat.

It was early, it was crisp, and we headed to Catalina Island to backpack. Smiles and the scent of new back packing equipment emanated from our group. Chris and I had invested in a new two-man tent or as we called it “the condo with the Jacuzzi suite.” I, of course, was the pack mule for “the condo.”

The trip was uneventful in that we arrived, hiked out, and set up camp on a cove facing the mainland. Coach trudged along and applied the stories and lessons as the group moved up the coast. Mrs. Coach continued to over share some of her stories and was now on the third version of a woman who gave birth to her son while working in a rice patty.

It was not until Saturday evening, while camping at Parson’s Landing that the campfire talk turned to Sunday mornings hike back to Two Harbors and the weather. As the other infamous island songs goes; the weather was due to begin “getting rough” the next day.

The El Nino pattern (that had begun to move northward that spring, had turned back south and we were due for another late spring event), would shower the southland and make sure that the snows were just above Altadena again.

The other coach and his son decided to hike back that evening to Two Harbors and bring Coach’s boat up to the cove where we were.

That morning, we woke and Evan (one of our classmates) had released the goat. Did I mention the goat? Early on the second day, we had climbed to the top of the peak at the northern end of the island and looked out on the Pacific Ocean; towards China. Mrs. Coach was not with us on that excursion however someone made mention that in the distance babies were being born on rice patty’s somewhere in the distance.

Did I mention the baby goat?

We began our trek down towards our cove and began a steady pace that picked up steam over the flat rocks and terrain. Evan, who was in the lead setting the pace started to dart towards a group of rocks and what appeared to be goats in the distance.  He leapt from flat to rounded rocks the size of a Volkswagen and I know I attempted to keep up.

As we approached the wild goatherd, he headed straight into the grouping, in a bounding motion, swept up a baby goat, and kept moving without slowing whatsoever.

It was a few minutes before we all caught up to him. We finally caught up where he stopped at the trail-head that took us back to our campsite cove. We were all impressed with Evan’s speed and agility and even more impressed with his goat scoping agility. He announced that he would keep the baby goat while its mother bawled in the distance calling for its release.

I can’t recall how long he kept the baby goat and for the sake of my story, some conflict emerged as we all encouraged him to return it to its mother. He held tight for a while. As we walked back into camp, Mrs. Coach caught wind of the baby goat and its noises. And again, a Peace Corps story. There seemed to be some unrest about the entire situation. Two of the other students confronted Evan about the goat; they mentioned issues on the hike in; they also brought up cooking duties and clean-up issues. It was general strife and conflict.

It was not until Mrs. Coach intervened that hands were shook, smiles emerged, and the baby goat returned to the hillside with mom. The baby goat kept turning back towards our camp and shrilled at Evan almost longingly.  The goats stayed around for most of the afternoon and into the evening only disappearing from sight as darkness settled on the cove.

My point in sharing this is that conflict happened on a short weekend school sanctioned backpacking trip and most of us would most likely never see each other again sometime after graduation. In addition, this conflict was just a small example of the eruptions that occurred throughout the course of the class and trip and often times in any camp setting.

The Sunday morning, we departed was amazingly clear towards the sunrise over the mainland. Looking towards the ocean side of the island that clued what the rest of the day would turn out to be.

We broke down the campsite and I returned the “condo with the Jacuzzi suite” back on to the frame of my secondhand Scout backpack that had I acquired from a neighbor. I had saved up for it and the entire trip from tips that I made having delivered flowers (in those days Flower Delivery could be profitable for college students) on the previous Valentine’s Day.

As we finished packing the boat was coming into the cove and anchored several hundred feet off the shore. We could see the other coach and his son hauling a dingy on deck and launching it into the water. We were all in our bathing suits shuttling items down near the surf, which at this point was gently lapping and surprisingly calmer than the night before.

We had planned how best to shuttle items out using the inflatable dingy and essentially having all the participants swim out in groups. Essentially, we planned an amphibious withdrawal from an island on what would be a tumultuously stormy afternoon and night.

The groups were assembled by 4 or 5 individuals and was predicated by the size of the dingy and how much weight as well as space for the equipment. We waded into the water with our packs above our heads just past the surf where the other coach’s son was holding the dingy in place. Shark jokes ensued until one of the other participants felt what we all believed to be a jellyfish and a panicked yell led to a collective seriousness.

As we neared the boat and the ground was no longer just below the surf, I felt the lapping begin to roll and I remember thinking to myself, I did not want to lose my pack that I had spent two days of flower delivery tips to purchase. That is when the rolling wave went over my head, I lunged towards the dingy, and the person next to me steadied my shoulder with their hand. I realized in that moment that Evan had a remarkably calming grip and perhaps that is why the baby goat had not strayed far.

By the time the last group made it onto the boat, I had already made my way into the pilot’s area to offer my assistance. I spent the bulk of the trip back at the helm and felt a sense of belonging to a group that just a few short weeks prior had no connection.

This is what happens in every group, team, or organization? 

A)    A previously unknown group with some semblance of topical knowledge brought together. (Forming)

B)        They strive towards a collective goal as knowledge gets passed back and forth. (Norming)

C)  Manufactured or arbitrary strife emerges within the team. (Storming)

D)     The team comes back together to overcome the difficult situation (re-forming to hold hands)

Moreover, the team (if healthy) moves on through the subsequent struggles or goals to perform and perhaps re-form. (Five of us did take another backpacking class the following year and conquered the Sierras where I took a cold dip into a stream during spring thaw and Evan used his calming grip and managed to catch a rabbit.)

As we stood on the cement pier in San Pedro not far from where we had started out a few days prior, no one seemed to want to leave. We had circled up and talked about the jelly, the goat, Mrs. Coach’s stories, and ultimately our successful amphibious withdrawal from an island, pride achieved with the unplanned storming (figuratively and literally).

I believe that we would have stood there for a bit longer to linger and have our moment to hold hands and sing Kumbaya had the actual storm finally turn from misty to pelting rain.

We all long to come together in our groups and tribes and achieve our collective goals. It seems an innate part of the human experience. I imagine our predecessors who roamed parts of the world and collectively survive. How those groups must have managed to camp each night, look up, hold hands, and give thanks for whatever protected them.

I thought to myself, “righteous treasure and knowledge that emerged from wise praise indeed.”