July 2023 – Page 2 – Leadership Blog

Levels Of Leadership

Many of my employees became leaders and spoke as leaders to me. Our field of relationships was as flat as we could make it. And I believe our boss-to-employee relationship was as equals. Is there any other way? This made our inner circles exceptional, and power shifted easily from one to another depending on the issue and problem we were dealing with.

I have used my baseball cap as a leadership symbol. The one at the table who could handle an issue wore the hat as a symbol of leadership, and the rest of us were what they needed us to be, including me. The point was obvious. Instead of me as the decision maker, events dictated where leadership would come from.

But fundamentally, I was still the creator and builder of the business, and they were employees. That level of hierarchy was always there. This point is what I have been coming to since my first essay on this subject. Although I was the prime leader, my employees were leaders in their jobs who led others and were, in many respects, more capable than I was. Beyond their capabilities, most handled power wisely and worked well with others. Looking back, believe I was their “role model,” although, at the time, I was unaware of that. Today I realize I was a leader of leaders.

I was blessed to work with exceptional people and contributed to what they did and became. However, a question that has been on my mind for some time is why, when I left any of my creations, did they disappear?

What Motivated Us

I studied hard to understand power and leadership to be the best teacher I could be. Looking back, I admit to my ignorance of who I was and what I did as a leader of others. I had no idea what being a “role model” meant or that I was one. If ignorance is bliss, I lived in bliss, never thinking about my power to influence. I did what I believed had to be done and never looked for feedback about who I was or what I did. I admit that I saw my staff as “the problem.”

I’ve written many essays on this subject and have faith in the correctness of my observations. Accordingly, most so-called “Leaders” are not leaders but excellent employees that play at being a leader. Leaders create businesses, hire and train employees and grow their organizations. I, with Lenette, achieved this.

None of what we created was motivated by making money. Money was important so we could build, pay and care for ourselves, but it was never a motivator, only a necessity, and never primary. Our main concern was always on the people we elevated to leadership positions. They were vital to us and our philosophy, and they were the best possible leaders they were capable of being.

When I have written about the “inner circle,” I write from experience. We had many “inner circles” over the years that functioned at as high a level as any true leader could hope for.

Leading A Remarkable Staff

As I pondered the concept of a leader of leaders, I realized it had brought me to an important “aha!” moment. It addresses many events that have taken place in my entrepreneurial life. Much of what follows you may already be aware of.

A small day camp I opened in Chicago in 1957 closed when I left Chicago for Los Angeles & UCLA. In 1948 I opened another small Day Camp in Malibu Canyon, which grew into a large organization. It closed when we left for Northern California and opened Camp Shasta. Later, we built complex children’s programs in Las Vegas, Colorado, and planned for others throughout the U.S., including Hawaii and Fiji. Major corporations employed us to create programs for them, and we did studies for our government—all this from 1947 to 1974.

Not a vestige of a single program remains—maybe buildings, but a legacy remains. Our staff for every program was made up of well-educated people, almost all of them headed toward professional life. During intensive training, we left no stone unturned via detailed discussions. Dialogue was always free and easy. It is what we sought from everyone. With few exceptions, many of these former staffers became leaders themselves, making remarkable achievements in their chosen fields. There’s no mystery as to why that happened.

It was our outstanding staff who actually helped me launch another chapter in my life by getting me invited to speak about resolving personnel problems in the workplace. I quickly became attracted to the idea that I could help professional offices, be paid a handsome fee, and prove that we knew what we were getting famous for. My work with the best and brightest people changed my life. And in many cases, I changed theirs.

Dialogue, my way—How else do we speak to each—This is our best way

Leading Leaders

I was a leader of leaders beginning in 1949. It was then that I began to hire staff. By early 1950 I had a staff of 100 plus. Our day camp philosophy empowered the counselors and children.

I used my power as the Leader to train all staff, comprised of college students and teachers, and monitor their performances. Besides male and female counselors, there was a large staff of specialists in every activity to teach the campers swimming and every imaginable activity. Above all, living, communicating, and relating together was primary.

Working with a well-educated staff meant that each of them had to fully understand how to ensure that their small group (8 plus a junior counselor) became a community that made its own decisions about the day’s activities. The kids were not passive in this decision-making but were full participants.

How to go about making this a reality was what I trained our staff to do. Unsurprisingly, dialogue became a critical vehicle. Getting kids who are mainly used to being directed by their teachers and others to undertake their own decision-making was a significant challenge. For kids to have this power was a rarity in their families and society, but it was a must for us.

Ultimately, each counselor was a leader teaching their children to be leaders or, at the least, themselves using their own voice in deciding how each day would play out. To say it was successful is an understatement, for miraculously, children who knew only the experience of being cared for began to care for themselves and the others in their group. The growth of campers was often spectacular for many of them, and all benefited, including the staff. Leaders grew with their children, becoming better leaders in the process as the kids took on the joy and responsibility of leading themselves.

I used this same pragmatic philosophy when I worked with professionals and entrepreneurs. It was always wonderful to witness an organization becoming a safe and supportive community.

Rare Birds

The “leader of leaders” is a rare bird. Most people who are determined just to be themselves have enough difficulty simply doing so. Hence, they are not leaders of leaders but leaders of themselves. Still, the people not beholden to any hierarchy may struggle to be independent souls. I believe those who will be themselves are a relatively small number. Unfortunately, many humans are sheep and part of their herd. Thus, being unique, and distinct while finding ways to make a living despite our many forms of governance makes being one’s true self virtually impossible.

When I had to be part of a group, I did my best to follow the crowd, and the dictates of its leaders, although the leaders changed with the activities. I was told I was a leader, again depending on our gang’s activities. I ran with them from about seven years old to when I enlisted in the Army. School, on the other hand, was not necessary to me. As a kid during the Depression, I only thought about finding work and making a living. I liked the idea of a merchant marine job as it would provide a living and a way to see the world.

I felt my independence even when I was a member of my gang. I suppose being fearless as a kid facing an unknown world excited me. I loved that and looked forward to whatever adventures lay before me. My captain, the 3 Japanese prisoners of war on Okinawa, changed my life, but not my felt need for independence. The G.I. Bill offered me a quality education, and my need to be independent continued to manifest itself. The education system offered me incredible opportunities, but remaining independent as an entrepreneur won out. As you know, Lenette and I built a one-of-a-kind children’s organization and taught powerful people to understand their power.

What Makes A Leader of Leaders?

Allow me to clarify what I mean by defining those I think of as a leader of leaders. The leader of leaders doesn’t exhibit one kind of behavior. They have many attributes and characteristics; what drives one does not drive the other. Still, I believe there is a commonality, and that commonality must be “Independence.” There is no substitute for this lifestyle of personal freedom and independence for these people.

Where this comes from is our childhood. Since our very survival depends on the care given to us as newborns and babies, it cannot come sooner. But if nurtured as the unique beings we are, we quickly show evidence of our specialness. In most cases, however, events dictate, and our parents or caregivers influence our becoming more of what they want, and what we want begins to recede. The child simply does not have the tools necessary to fight off the pressures put on them as impressionable children. Play with clay, and you will know what I mean.

So, I believe the Leader of Leaders is asserting themselves, compelled to be themselves, regardless of circumstances that push and pull them to be something else. Once this becomes rooted in the child, how they express their inner drive of self is up for grabs. As different as each snowflake is from any other, so are independent people who can express themselves and their independence.

From the lost soul on the streets to the college professor, to the wealthiest oligarch and entrepreneur, to the socially committed person seeking only to make the world a better place for everyone. Their commonality is “self.”

Being me, what else? —And wanting this for you, too—We both benefit

A Look Back

So, as entrepreneurs and committed to children’s education, recreation, and growth from preschool into teens, Lenette and I also knew from the beginning that we were not the key to meeting our expectorations. Our success and the success of our programs would depend on the people we would be employing and working with.

Nothing, including their prior experience with children, kept us from an intensive training program. Our philosophy had to become theirs. Recreation was a back issue. Being responsible for self and others was our core issue, and all sorts of activities were our vehicles for this to take place. And it did. We became known for our unique philosophy, small groups (a maximum of 8), a counselor, and a junior counselor.

Professional and sophisticated parents wanted us to do what they could not do: get their kids dirty and even bloody and learn what it meant to live and play with others. We achieved this in spades, and our reputations grew.

What made this all happen? How did a tiny day camp grow into 400 children, 100 staff, and 35 some-odd vehicles picking children up each morning and taking them back home at the end of the day? Eventually, we created a resident camp in the wilderness for boys and girls, preschools, and children’s programs in Las Vegas, Colorado, and other proposed expansions by major corporations throughout the U.S.

None of this was an accident. These achievements and successes attracted big business. The real question is: Was this serendipitous? Or were they the result of hard work and the best professional education? What or who made this happen? I have much more to say.

A tiny business grows—It grows large, influential—How come? A leader

A Leader Of Leaders

To begin, I will write about myself and my life as best I remember. I will not, henceforth, write about others unless given permission. I am permitting myself full disclosure.

The title, A Leader of Leaders, is not a play on words but a reality I have come to recognize. To explain further, I must share more of myself. From about the age of 7, until I entered the service, I was part of a group but never a member of the group. They were important to me, and I participated fully, but I also know I felt no need for membership. I was then, and am to this day, independent.

In the service, I made acquaintances but built no relationships with anyone until I encountered the Japanese prisoners, who became my family. I was their leader, and they were my dearest friends, caregivers, and mentors. Even after spending a little over a year together, their influence on me exists to this day.

At UCLA, I was a student that came to class and left afterward for work each day. UCLA gave me Lenette and education but no memories and no friendships. I know how much I must have missed. But my needs were not there. In 1948 I created a Day Camp. Little did I know that this would grow and become a large part of my life. At the Los Angeles Board of Education, I was a child psychologist, educator, folk singer, and storyteller. I enjoyed each part I played, but being my own leader stole me from them, and I became a well-educated entrepreneur.

Together with Lenette, we grew our wings and our child work. Our firm (Youth Systems Unlimited) ultimately became world-renowned. We were a “one of a kind” youth organization for 27 years. Throughout it all, I have realized that my role was, indeed, a leader of leaders.