Effective Leadership

Introduction

As a child care business owner, you are a leader. Regardless of the size of your business, you—yes YOU—are a leader. You lead your business, your employees, the children in your care, and their families. They all look to you for guidance and support. Your role extends beyond just managing operations. It includes creating a positive and enriching experience for both your team and the families you serve. That is the role of a leader, and it is important to acknowledge your role and efforts!

Being a leader means that you hold many responsibilities and being a good leader means that you handle them gracefully. Though you’re running a business, you also want to ensure that you are creating and maintaining a positive place for everyone involved. It's not just about what your business looks like today, but also about what the future of your business will be. As a leader, it’s your job to ensure that your child care business will continue to thrive as a happy and safe place for all.

In this guide, we will be going over key aspects of effective leadership, common leadership mistakes, opportunities to improve your leadership skills, and tips to help you balance it all.

How Do I Become the Best Leader I Can?

Leadership is more than just being in charge. How you lead will impact how you handle day to day operations, your staff, families, and children and good leadership will keep your business running smoothly. Though leadership will look different between individuals, there are several strategies that effective leaders typically focus on in their work:

Fostering Trust

A staff that trusts you and each other is a more efficient one. As a leader, it is your job to foster a positive and friendly environment that builds positive relationships and trust – both with you and among your employees. You can do this through:

Open and honest communication: Consider offering regular check-ins or promoting an open-door policy.

Team building opportunities: Organize non-work-related activities for you and your staff to get to know one another.

Reliable support: Assure your team that they can depend on you to be there when they require assistance or guidance.

A Problem-solving approach: Encourage a culture of problem-solving rather than punishment when mistakes are made.

When your employees trust each other and you, they work seamlessly together, which makes daily tasks and functions more efficient. It’s also important that you trust your employees, and developing bonds with your staff can help you understand that they are reliable, supportive, and doing their best. 

Investing in Staff Development

Being a successful leader requires a commitment to investing in staff development. A good leader recognizes potential within their team and understands the importance of nurturing individual growth, on both a professional and personal level. Look for ways to cultivate employee’s skills such as:

Encourage learning: Help your employees get better at their jobs by letting them attend classes or workshops.

Help them aim high: Work with your employees to set clear goals for their work that they can actually achieve.

Give them chances to learn new things: Offer opportunities for your employees to get better at their jobs while they're working.

Keep them healthy: Make sure your employees have a good balance between their work and the rest of their life and offer benefits like health insurance or help with child care costs.

These actions help to demonstrate that you care about your employees as individuals, value them as employees, and support their professional growth.

Modeling Your Business’s Values

By modeling and emphasizing the values you want your staff to prioritize, you can set the tone for a stimulating and nurturing environment, all while encouraging the improvement of quality in the environment you provide and the services you offer.

Lead by example: Act in accordance with your business values in your everyday actions and decisions.

Communicate openly: Share the reasoning behind your values and how they guide your business practices.

Recognize and reward alignment: Acknowledge and celebrate instances where employees demonstrate your business values.

Taking this approach clearly demonstrates your commitment to your values and the children in your care. It shows employees your dedication and passion, encouraging them to emulate the same level of commitment. As a leader, it's essential to model the behaviors you expect from your staff. By doing so, you uphold your standards and establish fairness, demonstrating that you believe in these values wholeheartedly. It also provides a model for them to use in their own interactions with other staff members.

What are common leadership mistakes I should be aware of?

As a leader, you are faced with many responsibilities and a lot of pressure - and mistakes happen. When you do make a mistake, it is crucial to acknowledge it, fix it, and most importantly: learn from it! Here are some commonly made leadership mistakes to watch out for on your leadership journey:

Not Communicating Clearly

Unclear or insufficient communication between you and those involved in your business leads to confusion and misunderstanding across all areas. It is important to clearly communicate expectations to all parties involved: your staff, the families you serve, and the children in your care.

What To Do Instead:

Make communication easier for everyone by giving clear instructions and providing helpful tools. Have handbooks and other informational materials readily available for reference. Schedule regular meetings with your staff and parents, ensuring each meeting has a clear list of topics to discuss. During these meetings, address any questions or concerns and provide updates on important matters. Give everyone written copies of the rules and what's expected to reinforce understanding. You might also want to send out a newsletter to families with updates and important news.

Not Giving Feedback

By not giving feedback, you slow the development of your employees’ skills and your business’s services. When you avoid discussing employee performance, you eliminate an opportunity to both correct and praise employees, so they are not aware of their effective or ineffective actions.

What To Do Instead:

Set regular meetings to discuss job performance and be sure to highlight good work as well as things that can be improved on. When giving constructive feedback to employees, it is important to do so privately and emphasize that hearing feedback is an opportunity to learn and not to be reprimanded. 

Not Accepting Feedback

While criticism can be difficult to hear, it’s important as a leader to allow feedback from your staff and the families you serve. By not accepting feedback, you inhibit your own growth and improvement which in turn hurts your business. When you ignore feedback from families or staff, you can create strained relationships which leads to a lack of satisfaction and higher turnover rates among all parties.

What To Do Instead:

Feedback from your employees and families is important! Promote an open and collaborative relationship among those involved in your business so that individuals feel comfortable giving you feedback. Consider regular check-ins, surveys, and anonymous suggestion boxes to allow space for feedback to be given and received. When hearing feedback, be sure to listen with an open mind and take action to make improvements to your business. Feedback is an opportunity for growth, not a personal attack. Remember, feedback isn’t always negative, and it is equally important to hear from employees and families about the positive aspects of your leadership and business!

Inconsistent Decision Making

Being inconsistent with your decisions can undermine the stability and trust of your team and the children in your care. For example, not consistently reprimanding a bad behavior from children or allowing schedule flexibility for one employee but not another leads to confusion and a lack of trust in your leadership.

What To Do Instead:

When running a business and caring for children, consistency and predictability are important in day-to-day operations and behaviors so that expectations are clear. Decide on and record a set of policies and procedures for each area of your business and make multiple copies for you and the people they apply to. Create an employee handbook and give a copy to all employees and draw up parent contracts and be sure that all families have copies. Take time to go over this information with everyone. Having clearly defined rules to refer back to is helpful for both you and all parties involved in maintaining consistency and order.

Are there growth opportunities I can take advantage of?

As a leader, you should be constantly growing and developing to best serve your business. Exploring learning opportunities is important to enhance your skills and remain the most effective leader for your business.

Look for online courses and certifications in new and developing areas of expertise so you be sure that you and your business stay up to date on regulations, teaching methods, and technology.

Networking and connecting with peers in the child care industry is also an excellent way to learn and grow both as a business owner and leader. Join the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) or if you’re a family care provider, the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC). These organizations can connect you with other business owners and provide important resources in the child care industry. Even just grabbing a coffee or chatting over the phone with another child care leader can be helpful, and having friends in the same position offers a unique chance to exchange experiences and learn from one another.

Pursuing further education or degrees in Early Childhood Development and Leadership can also be a great way to advance your knowledge and leadership skills. In addition, there are also many recorded lectures, peer-reviewed articles, and diverse educational resources that you can find online that can help you and your business grow.

Finally, don’t underestimate the importance of feedback! Feedback from families and employees can present you with valuable opportunities for personal growth and the refinement of your leadership skills.

How can I take care of myself as a leader?

The part that people don’t talk about too much is how draining being a successful leader can be. When you are passionate about your work, the success of your employees, and the quality of care families receive at your business, it can be all too easy to spread yourself too thin – especially when you add in your personal life and obligations.

However, an overworked, stressed, and tired leader is going to be less effective – and it can take a hefty toll on your overall health and wellbeing. Because of this, prioritizing self-care is crucial for maintaining your well-being, resilience, and overall effectiveness as a leader. Establishing a healthy work-life balance allows you to recharge, remain energetic, and excited to lead your business:

Maintain a balanced schedule: To maintain a work-life balance, it is important to set boundaries with yourself and others. Set a consistent work schedule for yourself and make your families and employees aware of that schedule. For example, create and enforce a rule that you will not take work calls on the weekends, while you are on vacation, or after hours. Schedule short breaks for yourself throughout the day as well. If you allow yourself to be available and working at all hours, you stop yourself from having a break from work, which can quickly become exhausting and frustrating. Taking these simple steps will also set the tone for your employees to do the same.

Learn to say no: It is also important to learn when it is appropriate to say no. Though you want to keep your families and employees happy, you also must recognize when a request is unreasonable, falls outside of your business’s defined services, or would negatively impact others. Maybe a family requests to pick up their child at a time that is much later than your established pick-up window, or a friend requests a large discount in your services. It is perfectly reasonable for you to say no to requests like these that impact the operations of your business.

Manage stress and learn to let go: Learning to manage stress and let go of things that cannot be changed can be a difficult skill for anyone to master, but it’s critical for a leader's well-being. It's natural to encounter challenges and setbacks in running a child care business, but dwelling on them excessively can lead to increased stress and decreased effectiveness. Instead, focus on what you can control and take proactive steps to address issues within your sphere of influence. Engage in activities that promote relaxation, such as exercise, mindfulness, or spending time in nature. Most importantly, embrace a growth mindset, viewing obstacles as opportunities for learning and growth rather than insurmountable barriers.

Seek support and build a network: Don't hesitate to reach out to trusted friends, family members, or fellow business owners for support and encouragement. Building a support network allows you to share challenges, seek advice, and gain perspective from others who may have experienced similar situations. Surrounding yourself with a supportive community can provide emotional resilience and help you navigate the demands of leadership more effectively. To build this network, consider reaching out to other business owners in your area or joining professional associations or networking groups within the child care industry to connect with peers who understand the unique challenges and joys of your profession.

Celebrate your accomplishments: Being a leader and business owner is hard work. While it is important to learn from mistakes, it is equally important to celebrate yourself and your achievements. Set goals and milestones, and when you reach them, reward yourself. Whether it's reaching full capacity, boosting profits, or helping a child overcome a challenge, take time to acknowledge your accomplishments. As a leader, you juggle many responsibilities and overcome countless challenges – so don’t forget to recognize your hard work. You deserve to celebrate yourself!