“Forming true community often runs contrary to how most leaders lead,” write Michael Koetje and Peter Blair in the Exchange Essentials article collection, “Building an Effective Team.”

They describe their vision of how to help create true teamwork: “The first thing on our list is hiring passionate, motivated people. We want people who love children, families, themselves, and life, express a desire to be a part of something larger than themselves, and want to join a community and contribute to its growth. Then we give them lots of autonomy and support them. Goethe said, ‘Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.’ Most leaders develop their own vision and encourage others to join them in attaining that vision. We feel that in order to develop community you must develop a common vision with your staff, one that everyone feels a part of, and thus, empowered to create change to attain that vision.”

And in the book, Art of Leadership: Leading Early Childhood Organizations, Roger Neugebauer echoes the sentiments above, explaining that leaders who build effective teams “believe in people from day one.” He declares: “Your attitude about a person can have a significant dampening or buoying impact on their self-confidence. When you believe a person has the potential to succeed, and when you believe that a person has a desire to succeed, your support can make a difference.”

This practical, joyful collection of articles offer strategies for infusing early childhood environments and activities with mathematical thinking, through inquiry-based projects and real world exploration.

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