Why is creativity an important part of an organization? Isn't that something that the children should be doing so that their families can put it up on the refrigerator door and say, "Look how creative she is!"? But creativity is much more than that and should be an ingredient of any smart and savvy organization. Creativity reflects that an…

Very few people in early years would dispute that the success of a child care centre is almost entirely down to the strength of the centre manager. At its most successful, management expands to leadership, where leaders are able to influence the behaviour of others for the purpose of achieving a goal. Leaders develop a special set of rather…

The "Measure Up Monster" usually comes to visit wearing one of two disguises. Its favorite disguise is "Flattery". Some say flattery will get a person everything, but sometimes flattery only gets a person frightened. When the "Measure Up Monster" shows up disguised as Flattery it can feel like a set up for failure. That's because sometimes people…

For early childhood professionals, both peers and supervisors, confronting adult whining or any other offensive behavior can be difficult. Eighty percent of early childhood leaders prefer to avoid conflict and hope the problem will just go away (Bruno, 2008). One sees herself/himself more as a nurturing professional than feisty warrior. The author…

In a recent conversation with other early childhood educators about change, four key questions surfaced. In this article, the author answers these four key questions: (1) How do educators find ways to slow change?; (2) How does one successfully lead people through change?; (3) How does a leader use relationships and vision to lead change; and (4)…

When "Exchange" surveyed leaders of North America's largest non profit child care organizations about threats facing their organizations, not surprisingly, the "state of the economy" was foremost on their minds. What is surprising is that these organizations have been able to weather the economic storm quite well. One should…

The need for effective early childhood leadership has never been greater than in this time of global economic crisis, demand for standards-based practice, and increased accountability for program outcomes. Distributed leadership is a hot topic in the educational leadership world, and much has been written about taking a distributed approach to…

As Co-Founder of the Alliance for Early Childhood Finance, it is the author's job to think about how they pay for early care and education (ECE) services in the United States. Generating the operating revenue needed to establish and sustain a high-quality ECE program has never been easy--and in a recession economy it is becoming even more…

This article talks about a model child abuse prevention approach called, "Supporting Teachers, Strengthening Families." It is NAEYC's professional development initiative to help early childhood educators play leading roles in preventing child abuse and neglect through family strengthening efforts. It focuses on six strategies that high-quality…

Regardless of their roles as business owners, center directors, school principals, or teachers, educational leaders are expected to be organized, sensitive, and unflappable. So, deciding what to do and when to do it are key to their success in achieving program goals, promoting staff excellence, or providing family and community appreciation.…

Moving from a teaching position into an administration is not a smooth transition. The jobs are very different, with different tasks and responsibilities. When the author began directing, she had no idea what she was doing. It was her secretary, Dolores, who taught her how to do her job. In this article, the author reflects on her experiences when…