Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/growing-a-multi-site-organization/5023318/
This article is an excerpt from the new Exchange book The Art of Leadership — Leading Early Childhood Organizations. To learn more about this series, go to www.ChildCareExchange.com/aol
“Don’t tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
George S. Patton
My mom opened a preschool classroom in a church in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, 45 years ago. I was an enrolled student in one of our first classrooms. I became an employee about 25 years ago. Then, I became a parent and a customer of our programs. Today, I have the privilege of leading this organization as Chief Executive Officer. Over the last 45 years, I watched our organization flourish from that classroom to over 70 child care centers, caring for nearly 10,000 children per day in multiple states. In fact, we have become the largest provider in the state of Minnesota.
When you picture a large child care organization, you may see a small group of ambitious individuals sitting around a table developing plans to build an organization with a great number of locations. But the truth is, most multi-site providers grew organically because they provided outstanding child care and earned a great reputation in ...