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Leadership Advice from Napoleon
March 20, 2007
The notion of children being "kindergarten ready" is a bizarre oxymoron. It's like saying you have to know how to play the piano before you can learn how to play the piano.
-Peter Campbell
-Peter Campbell
At a keynote address at the 2007 CAEYC conference in San Jose, California, I opened with the above quote by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Work in a early childhood program can be stressful and frustrating for staff. Demanding parents, unruly children, low wages, and long hours can be discouraging. And, declining enrollments may make all staff anxious about the future of the program and their jobs. Throughout all these challenges it is up to the organization's leader to maintain high staff morale.
- The leader needs to model an upbeat attitude. Staff take their cues from the leader, and if she can be positive and enthusiastic, this will buoy staff up.
- The leader needs to keep everyone's eyes on the prize. When times are tough, it is easy to lose sight of the mission of the organization and simply go through the motions of caring for the children. At all times the leader needs to keep staff focused on the goals of the organization.
Contributed by Roger Neugebauer
For more ideas on leadership in early childhood, check out the popular Exchange book, On Being a Leader.
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A New Career Helping Young Children Develop and Learn
Learn how to give a young child the very best foundation possible �" with a Bachelor of Arts Early Childhood Development at National University.
Comments (2)
Displaying All 2 CommentsToronto, Ontario, United States
It concerns me that in an article provided to inspire others to be passionate about working with children and their families, negative words are used to describe the children and families.
"Demanding parents" and "unruly children". Judgemental and negative statements that can fester instead of foster relationships, especially by leaders.
Come on!! Perhaps proof readers need to be contracted.
Sonshine Child Development Center
Lititz, Pennsylvania, United States
The world of early childhood care and education in Pennsylvania has been experiencing a huge revamping and a renewed committment to the highest levels of quality. Through the Keystone STARS quality initiative many centers have taken the challenge of reaching excellence in their care for the children, professional development for staff, partnerships with parents and the surrounding community, and maintaining safe and stimulating environments. All of this is exciting but also very exhausting. Just because we are reaching for excellence does not mean that parents are able to pay higher fees, therefore pay rates do not match the level of commitment and education of the staff. The amount of paper work is massive and the time commitment is considerable. All of this makes it necessary for a director to be truly committed to her own growth, to her staff and to their goals. The director must encourage when everyone is weary, speak positively when an unexpected challenge arises and guide her staff towards a viewpoint that is professional and proud of their accomplishments. This can be difficult to do unless a director has a strong network of support for herself. There can no longer be the Lone Ranger directors.
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