Most surveys of employers convey that the most important skill employers want young employees to possess is communication skills.
Despite the prevalence of social media, which can diminish one’s face-to-face communication skills, many youth have participated in rigorous writing courses, debate classes, and Mock Trial, developing solid communication skills through the process.
Where employers find the biggest gap between the skills they wish their young employees possessed and the skills they actually have is in leadership. This makes sense. Many people falsely believe leadership is a trait one is born with. Some people do have an aptitude for leadership but there are few “naturally born leaders.” Leadership is actually a skill that can really only be learned through hard work and practice. Getting true experiences where young adults gain actual real opportunities to lead others is far more difficult than finding opportunities to improve communication skills. Sure, in college, one can take classes in leadership, study great leaders and yes, read one of thousands of self-help leadership books. But there is a difference between reading about it and doing it! Leadership is like a muscle. One must actually create opportunities to “work out” and practice and improve one’s strengths. There is no growth without hard work and a little pain! Beyond the actual day to day experience of leading others, one can’t truly become a solid leader without taking time to gather feedback and reflect on what could be done better.
Most teens and young adults, if they actually have a job during the school year, work on screens or do primarily task-focused, entry-level jobs with few opportunities to learn how to become a leader. Sure, high school and college sports may offer some opportunities, but, with a greater emphasis on professional coaching, few teens actually get serious opportunities to build leadership skills beyond “nominal captain status.”
An impactful way for young adults to learn and practice leadership skills, according to John Dockendorf, is to spend a summer or two as a camp counselor or to enroll as a participant in a wilderness-based summer adventure program, such as the National Outdoor Leadership School or Bold Earth Adventures, or do both!
Building Leadership And Personal Growth through Wilderness Leadership Programs
Outdoor adventure and wilderness immersion summer camps effectively provide opportunities to develop leadership skills and build character. In the face of a challenging and potentially harsh natural environment, participants, used to comfortable lives at home, learn to work together for mutual success, to lead when necessary, and to follow when appropriate. If they don’t successfully work together or “have each other’s backs,” they may fail to reach their nightly destination, prepare edible meals, sleep in a warm, dry place, or thrive as a community. Nature can be an unforgiving teacher. The natural disruption of an outdoor living experience replete with natural consequences facilitate well-remembered learning opportunities that “stick” in ways they never could through traditional school or an internship.
Unassisted by technology and unhindered by suddenly trivial everyday concerns and the politics of office or school, wilderness programs provide an incredible opportunity to be a leader as each group makes a plan for the day and sets goals. It’s practically a living laboratory to learn and practice leadership and develop personal strengths. And feedback is immediate! Here’s why these programs work:
- Students suddenly find themselves in an unfamiliar and potentially hostile environment where they must learn new skills and behaviors to succeed. This allows for opportunities to learn about themselves, and discover hidden talents and weaknesses, forcing them to adapt to unforeseen circumstances, all without the usual support from home.
- Every day of an outdoor adventure requires careful and deliberate planning, goal setting, and preparation. Examples include: cooking as a group, setting up tents, map reading, group debriefing, route planning, group safety and risk assessment. Skills learned through this process include focus, division of labor, teamwork and collaboration, effective communication, goal setting, and most importantly, leadership.
- Participants receive constant feedback from their guides and each other. With continuous and often repetitive daily challenges, the group learns to work together to identify weaknesses in their approach and refine their efforts while building camaraderie and trust. Few environments provide better opportunities to develop a highly performing team, with effective leadership at its core.
Besides being a chance to develop leadership skills, outdoor wilderness programs offer excitement, adventure, and fun. Corporations and organizations will find participation in these programs to be an effective resource for personal development.
Another Alternative – Developing Leadership Skills while Working as a Summer Camp Counselor
Lets face it, joining a wilderness leadership program without a scholarship can cost thousands of dollars. Another way to successfully build leadership skills is to work as a camp counselor. Plus, counselors actually get paid! For many this is the best, most rewarding and most impactful summer job ever, where they also make lifelong friends. The salary is merely a bonus as one can easily learn as many life lessons and leadership skills at a good camp than through a costly semester of college.
Many folks believe working as a summer camp counselor is just a “Chill” summer job where one lifeguards, bags the perfect tan and only has to minimally interact with kids. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Working for an excellent summer camp that is as committed to staff development as the growth of its campers, such as Camp Falling Creek or Camp Pinnacle, both in NC, provide an incredible opportunity to learn, build and practice leadership skills.
Counselors are handed significant experience at a young age. They are responsible for the health safety, community building and activity programming for their own group of six to ten campers. A good camp effectively trains its staff in how to be a good leader and role model and provides constant feedback throughout the summer. Each session of arriving campers provides a reboot and a chance to improve on one’s leadership development, learning from experiences; both successes and failures from the last session. Campers are generally easy followers but can provide challenges to test and improve a counselor’s communication, empathy, resilience, creativity, teaching and of course leadership skills.
Many business leaders will attest that they are now a strong and creative leader because they honed their skills during their teenage years as a summer camp counselor. While this job may not seem as sexy as a fancy high paying, summer internship and entails long hours and six – day work weeks, it’s truly a summer filled with learning and growth!
John Dockendorf is the Principal at Dockendorf Consulting, operating in Hood River, OR, and Hendersonville, NC.
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