Healthy Camp Leadership

By Melinda Trotti

This is the second in a series of posts about Interim Directors and the Interim season. The concepts apply to all camps, conference, and retreat centers, whether they are not-for-profit, for profit, or religious sites owned by a judicatory body or are separately incorporated. See Do We Need an Interim Director?

When you’re ready to hire an Interim Director consider these practical tips to help create the best processes for a successful interim season — for both the organization and the interim you hire.

The hiring organization needs to do the following in order to establish professional boundaries and expectations for all, establish firm deadlines, and create welcome for the new hire. Clarity gained upfront diminishes conflict later.

Nuts and Bolts for Success

1. Develop a contract between the Interim and the Interim Director’s Supervisor, Judicatory Head, or oversight Board. Establish salary, health and other benefits, use of vehicle, reimbursements, time off, etc. within the hiring contract. It is unfair to expect the Interim Director to point out these details to their employer. Also note that this is not the time to try to “save some money” for the site. A successful interim season can increase the likelihood that a ministry will thrive after the Interim is gone, and the person facilitating the site and its operations should be paid at least as much as the Settled Director coming in. Their salary should, if at all possible, mirror the former Settled Director’s whom they are following. 
2. Create a formal start date and finish date before hiring the Interim Director and stick to it. Unfortunately, with overburdened judicatory or agency staff members or Boards unsure of their role in engaging an Interim, the end date can be pushed out indefinitely when it is not firmly established ahead of time. A vague end date can negatively impact the Interim Director’s leadership, the staff whom they supervise, their personal well-being, and the program or ministry as a whole.
3. Create a Welcome Event where the Interim Director is introduced to stakeholders, where questions can be engaged both formally and informally, thus defining the parameters of the interim season and the Interim Director’s role. At the end of the interim season, create an Appreciation Event in which the Interim is thanked for their work, and the Settled Director is introduced. These events with write-ups in appropriate newsletters and social media outlets help supporters understand the role of the Interim as they come into the new role while also establishing boundaries for the completion of that Interim’s role. 
4. Create a welcoming living situation for the Interim Director so that they arrive to a clean, fresh house with enough food to tide them over for a day or so until they can get settled and get to a grocery store.

What does an Interim Director need to succeed?

• A well-crafted, written contract
• Support from and easy access to the supervisor or supervisory group
• A mutual understanding of the role of Interim by all involved
• Ability and freedom to objectively engage the situation into which they are stepping. (Projection and emotionality from past conflicts and mistakes and anxiety regarding the future are expected aspects of interim ministry.)
• A mutually agreed-upon and well-articulated understanding of the hierarchy of the context and the level of authority of the Interim Director
• Informal support from stakeholders to counterbalance some of the social isolation usually inherent for an Interim Director during the interim season. This can include invitations to coffee, dinners, introductions within the local community, worship and occasional calls of, “How are you doing?” or “How can I be of help?”
• Knowledge of formal support available to the Interim through an Employee Assistance Plan and/or Professional Coach or Consultant and specific instructions on how to access that support
• Kindness and grace given freely.

*Settled is a term often used instead of permanent as Camp Directors are typically hired with an expectation of 5-10 years of service, not for a lifetime appointment or tenure.  

The next blog post will explore the details of hiring an interim director, how long they should stay, and their role in succession planning.