Learning True Leadership

Wealthy. Famous. In charge. Demanding. Revered for their silent and steely dispositions. These are the characteristics of many leaders in the world, which are often glamorized by the media.

For most teenage girls, the word “leader” conjures images of women with hard-pressed lips and cold stares. Yet this is far from the cheerful, smiling faces of the leaders at AYC!

At camp, we are taught that in order to lead, one must be a servant. In the world, this is almost a foreign idea.

There are three basic ways we practice leadership at camp.

First, leaders sacrifice their free time to help campers. Each day begins with morning songs: one from the boys and one from the girls. Whoever’s song the administrators deem is the best, eats first. It is a fun and fulfilling competition to start the day.

How does this fit into leadership?

These songs do not come out of thin air. While all campers are encouraged to write songs, older attendees usually create the most since they have a greater level of experience. It also falls on them to teach the words and melodies of tunes from previous years to younger campers.

Older campers have to sacrifice time and energy to do this. If the activity schedule is tight, the free time and travel time usually used for rest and relaxation become a time of hard work and brainstorming.

All of this proves that leadership requires a willingness to sacrifice free time to serve others rather than self.

Another area in which older campers learn to lead is by being problem solvers.

In the world, it is more convenient to turn your head away from arguments and let someone else deal with them. Today’s leaders frequently blame problems on others and seem more than willing to save face by letting someone else take care of problems.

At AYC, however, we learn that a true leader confronts problems and attempts to come up with solutions. Older campers have to do this by helping to handle disagreements. Throughout AYC, it took leadership—and some problem solving—to ensure that everyone stayed on the same page.

You may be thinking, “Why would you need to diffuse arguments at camp?” Well, with 43 girls in one bunkhouse, tensions will occur!

For example, there were times when there were disagreements over who would be first in line for the shower. While this may seem small, if an agreement could not be reached quickly by the disputing parties, someone needed to volunteer to go to the back of the line in order to help diffuse the situation.

This was part of putting into practice the concept that leaders are willing to sacrifice what they want for what someone else or a particular situation needs—and help others make peace in the process.

In another instance, one misspoke word put a good friendship in jeopardy. Yet two more experienced campers brought perspective and soft words to the situation, which allowed the campers to make amends.

The last, but certainly not least, way to serve as a leader is to be willing to listen.

In society, leading is often the opposite of listening—leaders typically talk over, talk loudly, or talk non-stop. This “standard” set by the world is unacceptable at AYC, where we are taught to listen.

Ministers and administrators lead by example in this regard. They eagerly listen to stories and questions from campers. Seeing this helped me realize that being an older camper was no reason to cut myself off from the new and younger ones.

Though listening to newer campers may not seem like much of a service to them, it is encouraging for them to be noticed. Being a new camper is a scary experience. Yet, by simply opening our ears and lending time to them, returning campers were able to help younger campers develop a level of trust.

With this foundation set, older campers could then share their experiences, give direction, and offer encouragement. This helped younger campers learn, and made them realize that the older teenagers were there to help.

This method helped me lead one girl through her fears. She was nervous about participating in the high ropes—a challenge course that involved being in a harness among the tree tops. I listened to her talk about why she was afraid of heights. I explained that I was also afraid when I first participated in the activity. I told her that I went for it anyway and had fun in the end.

Because I listened to her, she readily listened to me. And guess what? She went ahead and confronted her fear of heights by bravely going on the high ropes course.

I am sure other older campers could share similar experiences.

Something else I learned more fully this year is that to truly reap the rewards of leadership, you have to be ready to give of yourself no matter what—even if you are tired and just want to go to sleep! The examples of other older campers from previous years helped spur me on to do this.

Returning home every year is bittersweet, though I am eager to apply what I have learned by discerning right from wrong leaders and being a light to other people.

As a senior in high school in a small town, I have the responsibility to be a “big sister” to underclassmen on both my track and soccer teams. Camp experiences have taught me to be the leader I am expected to be. I can use my newfound skills through a willingness to sacrifice my time and energy, by problem solving, and by listening.

AYC is built around fulfilling the tagline of the Ambassador Youth magazine: “Developing leaders for the world tomorrow.” This makes us stand out in societies where we are surrounded by a thousand-plus wrong examples. It is not easy to swim against the current, but camp gives us the tools and encouragement to do so.