Ya Gotta Wanna

“In the past 20 years, we have had the opportunity to observe hundreds upon hundreds of leaders in action in child care centers,” write Bonnie and Roger Neugebauer in the book, Leading Early Childhood Organizations. Here is one story they tell about what the most successful leaders do:

"Art Dronen, Roger’s high school track coach, had only one piece of advice for all of us would-be heroes – 'ya gotta wanna.'" We, of course, treated this as trite nonsense. Decades later, Roger now sees that Art was a wise man. His wisdom is best exemplified in the world of sports where typically athletes’ success will in large part be determined by their determination to succeed…

While center directors are seldom cheered on by a spirited crowd of 100,000, they do frequently demonstrate amazing feats of perseverance. In fact, it is the very nature of the director’s job to be confronted, on an almost daily basis, with daunting challenges….Confronted with frustrations, many directors throw in the towel. They either quit or quit caring.

The directors who succeed, and go on to manage the best programs, are those who don’t cave in when the going gets tough, those who are determined, against all odds, to maintain a focus on delivering quality services. These directors have a 'ya gotta wanna' attitude that consistently carries them to the finish line.”

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