The Coffee Cup

A million years ago I took on re-developing an outdoor leadership camp in the High Sierras of California.  What we started with was rustic, rough, and run down.  An old marine generator would put some flicker into a few light bulbs, there were ancient propane-powered refrigerators, the cabins were a patchwork of styles that served as better homes for rodents than people, and the water came from a straw stuck into the creek that ran through camp.  I loved it.

We got to work.  Built a new chapel area.  Added a deck onto the dining hall and moved the outdoor tables off the dirt.  Cleaned up the cabins as best we could.  Dug a 1/2 mile ditch and connected to both  town water and power, retiring the old water vault and marine generator.  I loved it even more.

We were serving about 100 people and the two Wolfe Range ovens and griddle were adequate.   We had a 1929 Hobart Mixer which the Hobart Company refurbished for free they were so impressed it was still in use. With power we had a brand new commercial refrigerator and freezer.  

Unlike our bigger camp properties, we ran the kitchen with volunteers who committed to join us only for a week.  For each meal, someone took on the "griddle-meister" role, "salad maker", "buffet line host" and such.  We served breakfast and then everyone including the cooks packed a sack lunch for their day of outdoor adventuring.  We'd come back to the kitchen around 4 to prepare dinner.  And, this is the part I really loved.

If pressed, I knew I could have gotten any meal out on my own.  But, on any given week, there would be 4-6 folks who had come to camp specifically to serve the hundred or so campers.  These were business owners, donors, professionals, parents and grandparents.  Their experience of serving was part of the magic we wanted to create.  So, the question became, "What do I do with me while they cook?"  

"Not all of us are made to cook.  Some of us are made to have conversations with those who are cooking."

And, this is where the coffee cup comes into the story.  I would hold one.  Almost always.  Because, if I was holding a coffee cup I wasn't doing anything.  I was coaching, cheering, and conversating.  Sure, I'd maybe grab a box of something out of the pantry or show someone how to quickly stem a strawberry (just ask me sometime), but the coffee cup reminded me that my best contribution was not in cooking, but in accompanying.  I'd get teased regularly by the cooks and yet they also appreciated what I was doing by not doing.

Michael Eisner (the former Disney CEO) was involved with us and we talked once about his book "Camp" and his early learnings. Well, this is one of the things I learned about leadership at camp.  I learned that "my lane" as the CEO was to accompany others on their journey of growth, development, leadership, and success.  And, what I really learned was how much those I was leading appreciated it when I stayed in my lane.  Success became their success.  

I doubt if anyone notices it today, but on every 1:1 video conference call, the first thing the person I am meeting with sees is me taking a sip from a coffee cup.  It's a subtle (too subtle?) way to remind them (and me!) that "this hour is about you, your growth, your success."

So, when are you cooking, and when might you be better holding The Coffee Cup?