Introduction

If you have had a job at some time in your life, you may have found yourself wondering, “Who is in charge here?” You may have even found yourself saying, “If I were the boss, I would do things differently!”

Understanding how power is distributed amongst people is an important key to understanding the elusive and often confusing job of a leader. Power sometimes comes with a title and sometimes with a personality, and often both! There are many different types of power and people use power (both personal and professional) to be productive, and sometimes to meet their own personal motives.

Understanding and defining what “bosses” do is an area of study that is constantly evolving and changing. Thoughtful and creative people have been writing and talking about “leadership” for many years.

Leadership in education is a fascinating and complex area of study that is getting plenty of attention in current times! In the field of early childhood care and education, leadership is particularly complex. Why? Because, as we will explore together in this section (spoiler alert), everyone is a leader in early care and education. When we enter the field of early care and learning (just as when medical professionals enter the field of health care) we take an oath to lead, and to be mindful of the ethical responsibilities that require us to lead, no matter how “low” we are in the staff structure.

Let us begin with some groundwork. Think about jobs you have held – the person leading you (manager, parent, lead teacher) had power, and they used different techniques and strategies to get you to do whatever the job required, and earn whatever was offered to you in exchange for your work.

How people in charge use power, and what they believe about the actions their role as a leader requires, is where we can identify a range of leadership skills, styles, and behaviors. Leadership and power are braided and blended together.

In recent years there has been a significant trend towards sharing power in educational settings, rather than creating a “top-down” structure of leadership. This is called the “stakeholder” model in which influence and power is redistributed amongst all and shared with the idea that sharing of power among stakeholders can and will encourage active participation in productive decision-making and increase student achievement in schools.

What does the term stakeholder mean in education? Stakeholders in the setting of early care and education are everyone—parents, children, cooks, licensors, and you. You have a “stake” in working for positive outcomes for the children you teach and families you work with. You know that when you do your part productively the whole community is improved and hence your life and well being is improved.

You are a stakeholder! No matter what your role is with children. Without you leading, (along with others) the organizations we work in would struggle to keep going effectively and productively. In early childhood care and education, everyone is a leader with power and responsibility to practice skills and behaviors that demonstrate a leadership style.

To put it simply, shared models of leadership are the current trend in education and have the potential to improve outcomes for everyone.

Think about power—who do you feel has power over you and why? If you are a manager or leader, do you feel you have power over others? Think about “bosses” you have had in the past. Reflect on a person whom you liked working for—write down two actions or behaviors they implemented or demonstrated that caused you to feel good about you and your work. Reflect on a person you did not like working for—write down two things (actions or behaviors) that caused you to feel bad about yourself and your work.

A footnote about power in early care and education: Remember – children are mostly powerless. Aside perhaps from the elderly, children are our society’s most vulnerable population. Have you considered how much power you have in relation to children? How does that make you feel?

Examining Two Different Leadership Models

First, let us review the traditional model of leadership with which most people are familiar. The traditional leadership model can be described as:

The Traditional Leadership Model

✔ Organizes the leadership as a pyramid or top-down graphic with more workers at the bottom and few at the top.

✔ Views organizations as mechanisms where people are assigned a part of the work like a wheel in a machine.

✔ Makes decisions from a top-down perspective (the person at the top is the ultimate authority).

✔ Operates with the assumption that people need to be told what to do (they will not or can not think for themselves).

✔ Believes that the one person (at the top) has the skills and talent to create success for all.

Can you think of a school or business you are aware of that follows this model? What evidence is there that the organization follows a traditional leadership model? In the setting (business or school) that you are thinking of,  is the model successfully implemented? Are there implementations of the traditional model that are not successful? Can you describe them? Who has the power in a traditional leadership model?

What Might This Model Look Like in Early Care and Education? You ask great questions! Before we move further let’s take a look. The traditional leadership model in early care and education might look like this:

Staff Input on Marcy’s Leadership:

• Cook Mindy reflects, “I don’t mind Marcy, except I wanted to implement some fun recipes for the kids and she said no. Hey, it’s a job, I get bored, but I know what I’m supposed to do so it’s all cool, I clock in and clock out.”
• Lead Teacher Juanita comments, “I want to do my own planning, I don’t like the curriculum Marcy makes us teach—in fact, I really just do the minimum with her plans—Teacher Heather in room B agrees with me and we basically ignore her planning emails, I don’t know if Marcy notices. I think Marcy is a micro-manager. But I love my job and my classroom!”
• Dad Richard asks, “Who is Marcy? The lady at drop off with the clipboard? She keeps the line moving along for sure, I always get to work on time. I don’t know what they do in that school, but that’s ok, our son Mark is happy!”
• Teacher Assistant Jenny states, “I have been here for fifteen long years, and my knees can’t take it anymore, I arrive in time to monitor the playground and leave before clean-up at the end of the day—I don’t care if Heather doesn’t like it, I’ve earned a break—what’s fair is fair, I’ve earned the right to have the schedule I need.”

What do you perceive might be positive about Marcy’s choice of a traditional leadership model? Negative?

The Collective Leadership Model

Now let us review a second leadership model. The collective leadership model contrasts with the traditional leadership model as it challenges the ideas of traditional leadership. Collective leadership recognizes that people influence each other, influence systems and processes (created and used by people) and examines the social process that is inherent between groups of people. Let us look at how Collective Leadership compares to Traditional Leadership.

Can you think of a school or business you are aware of that follows this model? What evidence is there that the organization follows a collective leadership model? In the setting (business or school) that you are thinking of, is the model successfully implemented? Are there implementations of the collective model that are not successful? Can you describe them? Who has the power in a collective leadership model?

What Might This Model Look Like in Early Care and Education?

The collective leadership model in early care and education might look like this:

Staff Input on Steve’s Leadership:

• Cook Avis states, “I love my job! I am able to use recipes that are healthy and the kids love! Sometimes I try to get out of going to the “community learning meeting” —but I get it, my input is important too. All these meetings do take up time and I’m pretty busy with my family.”
• Lead Teacher Charlotte comments, “I like to do my own planning with my group of children, and I’m good at it – it doesn’t take me very long which irritates the heck out of Teacher Jim in room B – he always complains when I leave early, but hey—Steve approves my plans!”
• Dad Julio claims, “Steve is awesome, he always stops to chat and ask about the new baby. Sometimes the car line gets a bit backed up, but we survive it! We try to stay aware of what Julio JR is studying in his class – we came in and taught the children how to make tortillas last month!”
• Teacher Assistant Cheyenne says, “I am not sure what I am supposed to be doing all the time, and the other assistant does things differently than I was taught, it’s frustrating to not know what to do and Charlotte and Jim don’t always agree on what I should do, so sometimes I just guess. I suppose I should ask someone about it but I’m not sure who.”

What do you perceive might be positive about Steve’s choice of a collective leadership model? Negative?

Which Model for Early Care and Education?

You can probably identify places you have worked or are aware of that appear to be in one model or the other. Furthermore, you might see positive and negative in both models.

For our purposes we want to know, “What leadership model is appropriate for early care and education?” Not only what is appropriate, but how can leadership and power be shared and used effectively in our world of early learning if collective leadership is the identified trend that promotes success for children and schools? We also cannot help but wonder if there are times when the traditional leadership model is appropriate! This is a good question to get on the table for consideration.

Another spoiler alert for you, both models present challenges, and everyone sometimes wishes they could exist in the traditional model, and simply tell people what to do, or the collective model so they can influence a decision. Note that the traditional leadership model is deceptive—rarely do people simply do as they are told. Often in traditional leadership the power that is perceived at the top is taken by those at the bottom who might then demand change.  Conflicting beliefs cause difficulties that make the workplace at the least frustrating, and at the most seemingly impossible. In the collective leadership model, much time is needed to hear the perspectives of the stakeholders and solve problems collectively. Trust is needed for relationships to be built, and relationships require listening. Often, in a collaboration, everyone gets “a bit” of what they want, but not everything — a reality that can leave everyone unsatisfied. Further, there are times when stakeholders feel that “someone should just make a decision!”

Is it possible that both models sometimes feel right, depending on the role you are in, or wish to be? Which model reflects your personal values? Which model reflects your professional values? Does conflict exist there? Could it? Might you change your thinking about these models depending on your role? What does this tell you about your needs in the workplace?

As your colleagues working and studying in early care and education, we have noticed some key differences that the collective model of leadership offers that indicate the need for us to pursue implementing it in our workplaces – even when it is challenging.

• First, the model reflects intentionality—a concept we use in all our work with children, and want to use with colleagues. In classrooms we consider all children when we plan curriculum, work with families, and work side-by-side with colleagues. Working with children is a team effort—although we know there are many times when final decisions must be made.
• Second, assisting children, families, and colleagues to learn how to think critically, solve problems, and communicate are central to our work. The collective leadership model offers a process for early care and education leadership that allows all stakeholders to engage meaningfully and share in the creation of success in a learning process. A goal we have for children most certainly!
• Third, collective leadership asks stakeholders to change their thinking about their role, and perhaps themselves. This is not always easy! A goal in collective leadership is for people to be motivated both by the external rewards of the job and their internal feelings of accomplishment. Working together toward a shared vision, everyone uses their varying talents and skills to contribute to the success of the organization. In fact, collective leadership recognizes that sustained success is not possible without the contributions of diverse stakeholders.
• Fourth, one of the beauties of the collective leadership model in early care and education is the flexibility it offers. A complexity of early care and education is the many roles found within, and the multiple relationships between stakeholders. All stakeholders are important, and all are connected. It can be hard to perceive these connections, especially when people are accustomed to (and may only know) traditional leadership models. Often staff in early care and education grow, develop, and are promoted upwards in the leadership structure quickly. When this happens, relationships shift and change, and flexibility is important for navigating these changes.
• Finally, the collective leadership model aligns with the emphasis in early care and education on diversity, equity, and inclusion. It also aligns with our shared vision of “Power to the Profession” (NAEYC) in which the workforce in early care and education is compensated equitably, professionalized, and developed effectively (we all share a passion and desire for helping all children reach their potential.)

Why do not more Schools use a Collective Leadership Model?

Good question!

There are many answers for this one! First, remember what was said earlier about the practice of traditional leadership. In America, the educational system was built and is maintained on the traditional leadership model—created in the industrial age, where traditional leadership was the accepted practice in business and society. The traditional leadership model is still general practice in our public school system.

Further, as you may have experienced, leaders in education are faced with very real shortages of time and money. Lack of resources makes investing in collective leadership a challenge. Finally, an important answer to “Why do not more schools use a collective leadership model?” lies in one of the paradoxes of being human—change is all around us every day, but, in most cases, we do not like change. We struggle to identify and let go of our mental models. What do we mean by mental models? Mental models (held by everyone) are deeply held beliefs about the world around us, sometimes we are not aware we have them! Mental models often shape how we think and behave in our personal and professional lives.

Everybody has some mental models, biases or beliefs about what leaders should or should not do—and sometimes we pick the model that works best for us in the moment, depending on our role as  a “boss/leader” or when we are a “worker/follower.”

As you can see, both of the models we have introduced you to present issues a leader is tasked with sorting out. In both models there appear to be satisfied employees and employees with frustrations. It may depend on whose shoes you are wearing!

What are your mental models about leaders? Mental models, often based on assumptions, are sometimes hard to uncover in ourselves. Earlier you identified leaders and jobs that worked for you, and did not work for you. You identified an organization you feel is led in a traditional model. Look back at your reflections – do you see mental models influencing your thinking? Imagine yourself in two very different stakeholder roles (perhaps manager and classroom assistant). Can you imagine how each leadership model might affect the behavior of the stakeholder?

We learned at the beginning of this section that we are all stakeholders and all leaders in early care and education. We also learned that institutions of education are changing—finding the collective model more effective, productive, and enriching for all of the people it serves.

When we dig more deeply into collective leadership, we notice it is more complicated than at first glance. If everyone is a leader:

• What actions and skills do we learn as leaders, to be active members in a collective leadership?
• What behaviors do we practice, (while still being our authentic selves) which will promote collective leadership effectively?
• Finally, what decisions do we make that will reflect our commitment to collective leadership, regardless of our stakeholder role?

As stated earlier, there is plenty of quality information available about leadership and how to become an effective leader. It takes time and practice to learn, and requires change in ourselves to develop into the leaders we want to become. Change is hard and human beings get frustrated when things change, or they realize that they, themselves need to change.

Consider a few of the many stakeholders in early care and education:

We might think it would be easy for all these stakeholders to eagerly embrace collective leadership, see and feel the equity found within it, and willingly work for change. Remember, the traditional model of leadership has been around a long time, and most people may have experienced only the traditional model, and in truth, as you have considered, there are times when we might prefer the traditional model.

Collective Leadership: A Deeper Look

Let’s dig into the collective leadership model and untangle some of the concepts it presents.

Concept #1: Removing Boundaries and Sharing Decision Making

Concept: To create our vision and move towards that vision we must work together not only in the defining of our vision but in our understanding of how we work together. We must first consciously remove boundaries or barriers that did not allow some stakeholders to lead or work together equitably. We must create conditions for stakeholders to feel motivated and valued as part of the process.

In action: We identify where there is inequity between stakeholders, discuss how to achieve equity and then inspire one another toward shared achievements. We define success and use reflection to analyze the processes we used to get there so we can make improvements moving forward. Consider this scenario for early care and education:

Concept #2: Relationships and Work/Life Balance

Concept: In collective leadership time is spent understanding the relational processes between people that encourage leadership in a group, and how communication and planning help all stakeholders to understand and navigate professional relationships. An invitation to bring wholeness to the table is part of the process. Stakeholders work to engage and encourage relationships that include a focus on mind, body, and spirit, and they identify the real benefits to the organization when focused attention is placed there. Engaging in work/life balance is an important part of the work, not just an afterthought.

In action: Time and energy is dedicated to communication, building relationships, and learning about each other. Best practice is identified and utilized as stakeholders learn how to navigate decision making together. Stakeholders are engaged in connecting to all parts of themselves and actively supporting the “wholeness” of others and the organization. Success in relationship building and satisfaction in personal growth and self care result in excitement about work and commitment to a larger vision. Consider this scenario:

Concept #3: Connecting Experiences/Collective Knowledge

Concept: The idea that one person holds all the knowledge is refuted with the idea that everyone has something to add that will improve an idea or plan. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A collective intelligence exists that is deeper than individual intelligence, and when stakeholders connect with intentionality and deeper inquiry the result is better than what might have been designed previously by only one person.

In action: Time, energy and respect are utilized strategically to create opportunities for stakeholders to share and work together. These activities result in new connections and new learning. These activities are documented and used to lead stakeholders to new ways of doing things or “course correcting” plans and visions. Consider this scenario:

Concept #4: Collaborative Decision Making

Concept: When people are willing to make some leadership decisions together instead of someone imposing decisions on others, better outcomes can result for more stakeholders.

In action: People deliberately create and engage in opportunities for meaningful connections with each other that center on key processes and decisions. As stakeholders build and maintain relationships, collaborative decision making can occur naturally and be sustained. People learn how to make agreements, give and take,  and design accountability structures and processes that sustain momentum in important decision making. Consider this scenario:

Concept #5: Flexibility and Continuity

Concept: Organizations are complicated, and even seemingly straightforward work is complex. Paying attention to  how problems emerge and change, and how people adapt to solutions (intended or unintended) provide opportunities for understanding how the organization is growing, learning, and developing. Avoiding rigid structures, allowing for creativity and spontaneity and then tracking the progress of situations or problems promotes the design of better practices.

In action: Practices can be both planned and spontaneous. Allowing people to generate ideas and try new processes can result in learning that can benefit the organization. Allowing for creativity, and tracking the progress of problem solving will provide an institutional history from which to learn. Consider this scenario:

Again, when we dig more deeply into collective leadership, we notice it is more complicated than at first glance. The “actions” described above feel slippery – they feel hard to link to actual skills we can learn. Often when we become employed in early care and learning, regardless of our position, we think the expectations of us will be made clear by someone further up the chain of authority—as we know, that doesn’t always happen.

You have reflected on models,  stakeholder roles, and leaders. You have probably already realized that the skills and behaviors of leadership are often skills we (and you) already possess. Sometimes they are skills that get rusty and sometimes they are skills we over use.

Good news – you can start where you are, and you have many wise guides with help to offer!

Can you recall a time you used skills or behaviors you possess intuitively, or learned from someone else, to step in and lead? This might be an event from your professional or personal life. What were the skills or behaviors you used? Were you aware you were leading at the time?

Remember the big idea about people not liking change we mentioned earlier? Well, people don’t like it when other people disagree with them either – so another spoiler alert: collective leadership requires an understanding of professional ethics. Have you ever left work thinking to yourself, “That’s it, I’m quitting!” because someone did something you did not like or agree with? If quitting your job would be a bad idea for your grocery budget, say hello to practicing your leadership skills.

Authentically Practicing Leadership Skills

At this point, you might be saying “Hey, just provide me with a list of skills and I’ll do them when I get promoted, or get the job I want!”

Spoiler Alert and Big Idea: Leadership skills and behaviors are not by-products of getting a promotion or a job. Leadership skills and behaviors are a choice regardless of your current job.

We know that it is a myth that job skills come only from getting “better jobs”. In fact, the truth is that all of your life experiences provide you with information about leadership skills and behaviors.

You may be thinking, “But which behaviors and skills are effective, and when to use them?” Collective Leadership looks complicated! Let us take a look at some leadership skills and behaviors that are effective and can be practiced in the journey of collective leadership.

Four Basic Leadership Skills

Let’s begin with some foundational skills that you can practice regardless of your role, and that probably include skills you already possess intuitively.

Skill #1: The Skill of Influence

To influence is to have the ability to effect change in someone. Choosing to use a particular influential approach helps you communicate your vision or goals, organize people, and build commitment from stakeholders. At a basic level, influence is getting someone to do what you want them to do. But genuine commitment from other people is often required for you to accomplish more complex tasks, hence there are a variety of strategies for influencing people. Ultimately, influence is a tool that helps you to get things done and achieve outcomes you want or have to make happen.

Influencers can force and compel using coercion, or can more subtly influence through trust, emotion, and logic. When a leader needs action and compliance is critical, obligation through a mandate is required. When there is resistance or unwillingness to comply, coercion is the influential approach that may be chosen. These are often found in employee handbooks, contracts, and job descriptions.

For example:

• When the fire alarm goes off all staff are to assist children as they exit the building, regardless of the lunch and break schedule.
• Employees who are late (more than 15 minutes past the start of their shift) more than three times without notifying the director will be terminated.

When choosing to use influence it is critical to know your stakeholders. Each person has special concerns and issues, so various groups and individuals will require different approaches for influencing. Early in your career, influence is about working effectively with people over whom you have no authority. It requires the ability to present logical and compelling arguments and engage in give-and-take communication. In more positions of authority influence is focused more on steering long-range objectives, inspiration, and motivation in the people you manage.

Three skills to practice that are influential:

• Logic – Logic appeals to people’s rational and reasonable thinking. You present an argument for the best choice of action based on organizational benefits, personal benefits, or both, appealing to people’s minds and reasoning.

• Emotions – Emotion connects an idea or a message to an individual’s goals and values. An idea that promotes a person’s feelings of well-being, service, or sense of belonging tugs at the heart and can garner support.

• Cooperation – A cooperative or collaborative appeal can create a feeling of teamwork, a sense that alliances are being built and stakeholders are not alone. Offering strategies for working together to accomplish a mutually important goal extends a hand to others in the organization and is an extremely effective way of influencing others.

Which of these three feels natural to you? Can you think of a time you were an unintentional influencer? Can you think of a situation in which you could choose an appropriate and intentional influential tactic and use your influence as a leader?

As you match influential skills to situations you wish to improve you are building the next level of influencing skills:

• Organizational Intelligence: When you practice a variety of influential skills, learning more about the people around you, what they care about, what bothers them, and how they prefer to communicate, you will begin to understand how to get things done and work with the reality of your organizations individuals and quirks in order to lead effectively.

• Serving Authentically: Through the intentional actions you choose as you practice leading, you will find what best matches who you are authentically. Your “youness” will be noticed, and you will credibly promote yourself—while also promoting what’s good for the entire organization.

• Building Trust: Leadership involves guiding and helping people through risk and change. Trust is essential to this guidance. All the leadership skills discussed here have the potential to build trust, and the wise leaders look to trust as foundational to success.

• Building and Maintaining Networks: No leader is truly acting alone. Leaders are empowered by their connections with others and look for others to connect with. As you recognize the support and collaboration others provide to you, and you build trust and understanding, you and those around you will feel satisfied. Networks of people with shared ideas and goals get things done!

Skill #2: The Skill of Agility or Being Nimble

Being agile or nimble means to be able to move quickly, to have flexibility, and to pivot when needed. When you are agile in your learning, you choose to seek out the lessons of experience, remember those lessons, and value them in your growth as a leader. This calls for recognizing when new behaviors, leadership skills, or attitudes are needed and accepting responsibility for developing them. Learning agility involves learning from mistakes, asking insightful questions, and being open to feedback. It includes taking advantage of opportunities to learn, and responding with as much intentionality as possible to new situations. For leaders, learning agility is also about inspiring learning in others and creating a culture of learning throughout the organization – modeling for the leaders you are growing. A key word for this skill is accountability.

In early care and education, stakeholders are often asked to behave in an authoritative approach that requires significant learning agility. Regardless of your role, to be the authority is to take the lead, make a final decision, take command, act as an authority figure in a situation. Authority figures are perceived as powerful, regardless of the accuracy of their knowledge. Most structures that involve people (businesses/institutions) have structures of authority, in which some people manage or have authority over other people.

In early care and education, adults are perceived as the authority figures by children. Often teachers are perceived by parents as authority figures. Authority and power are closely linked, with authority figures granted power by systems or by other people. All stakeholders have the choice to act with authority, and behaving with authority is a choice.

Choices to consider as you learn who you are as a leader include:

1. Seek out new and different experiences. Remain open minded and broaden your perspective, even when you feel vulnerable.
2. Accept and welcome challenges or the unfamiliar. Find the willingness to move out of your comfort zone. Dig deep and allow these experiences to change you!
3. Reflect and internalize these new experiences. When you take the time to truly internalize you are then able to recall and share later.  Process your learning so next steps become evident.
4. Be open to criticism and create a strategy for taking in feedback from others and being accountable when needed. View feedback as a gift of learning. You may not like it, and it may be uncomfortable, but there is value in it for you nonetheless.
5. Move on! Many of us feel the need to get things done quickly, and feel the pressure to act, causing us to over think at times, or hesitate. It’s ok to be creative! You can use accountability later if something doesn’t work out.

Skill #3: The Skill of Communication

Communication is one of the most basic  leadership skills all of us need to develop and refine during our professional careers. Communication is consistently rated among the most important skills for leaders to be successful. Communication is also embedded in a number of other leadership skills and behaviors,

Communication begins with practicing the art of active listening. The active listening skill set involves these 6 active listening skills:

Pay attention: When you are talking with a colleague formally, or even informally, don’t cut others off, appear distracted, finish their sentences, or start formulating your answer before they’ve finished speaking. Pay attention to your body language as well as your frame of mind when engaging in listening. Be focused on the moment, and behave from a place of respect as the listener. Set a comfortable tone that gives your colleague an opportunity to think and speak. Allow “wait time” before responding. If you can’t be attentive, be up front and set up another time to meet.

Withhold judgment: Active listening requires an open mind and lack of prejudice. As a listener and a leader, be open to new ideas, new perspectives, and new possibilities when practicing active listening. Even when good listeners have strong views, they consciously suspend judgment, reserve criticisms, and avoid arguing or articulating their point right away. This takes practice!

Reflect: When you’re the listener, don’t assume that you understand your colleague correctly — and don’t assume that they are aware that you are actively listening. Mirror your colleagues’ information and emotions by periodically repeating key points to assure them that you are paying attention. Reflecting is an active listening technique that indicates to your colleague that you are not only paying attention but understanding their points.

Clarify: Do not hesitate to ask questions about any issue or statement that is confusing or unclear when engaging in active listening. As the listener, if you have doubt or confusion about what your colleague has said, say something like, “Let me see if I’m clear. Are you talking about …?” or “Wait a minute. I didn’t follow you.” Open-ended, clarifying, and probing questions are important active listening tools that encourage the person to do the work of self-reflection and problem solving, rather than justifying or defending a position, or trying to guess the “right answer.” Examples include: “What do you think about …?” or “Tell me about …?” and “Will you further explain/describe …?” When engaging in active listening, the emphasis is on asking rather than telling. It invites a thoughtful response and maintains a spirit of collaboration during the interaction.

Summarize: Restating key points or ideas as the conversation proceeds confirms your grasp of the other person’s point of view. It also helps both parties to be clear on understanding and perhaps next steps. Briefly summarize what you have understood while practicing active listening, and ask the other person to do the same, especially when strong feelings are involved.

Share: Active listening is first about understanding the other person, then about being understood as the listener. As you gain a clearer understanding of the other person’s perspective or problem, you can consider when to introduce your ideas, feelings, or even suggestions. You might talk about a similar experience you had or share an idea that was triggered by a comment made in the conversation. Depending on the situation this may help the conversation to shift into problem solving. As the listener, continue to question, guide, and offer, but be careful about solving problems before allowing colleagues the opportunity to be problem solvers themselves.

Active listening is one of many communication skills you can practice as you choose to pursue your own growth as a leader. You want to think with clarity, express ideas, and share information with a multitude of stakeholders. You can choose to learn how to handle the rapid flows of information in your workplace, and among all the stakeholders you work with. Effective communication and effective leadership are closely braided together. Leaders need to be skilled communicators in a variety of relationships at many levels, especially in early care and education.

Skill #4: The Skill of Self-Awareness

Self-awareness means understanding your strengths and weaknesses, along with a willingness to consider your mental models, biases, and triggers. As we discussed earlier, gaining self-awareness is anything but simple, and change can be hard to implement. Your ability to be self-aware is one of the critical leadership skills for sustainable and long-term effectiveness as a leader. Self-awareness is a challenging skill to develop, and it serves as the foundation to many other skills we have discussed.

Your effectiveness as a leader is less impactful or more impactful based on how well you understand yourself, your awareness of how others view you, and how you choose to navigate the resulting interactions between you and your colleagues. Here are basic behaviors you can implement as you focus on your awareness of yourself.

• Your Own Wisdom. There are insights from your experience that you can apply to the challenges you face with others. You bring your life experience and your learnings from others in your life to every situation. Insights from your life won’t come to mind immediately, but as you practice reflecting on how you are going to choose to lead, and what has been productive (or not) in the past you find that your own wisdom will help you. This requires practicing deep reflection as part of your self awareness – looking for bias, mental models, and assumptions.
• Your Professional Identity. This is about who you are in your current professional setting. Just as you have a personal identity, you can develop a professional identity that demonstrates leadership. Your professional identity influences how you are leading whether you’re aware of it or not. In our diverse world it’s critical to understand our own identity and how it shapes interactions with others. Knowing your own professional identity may help you find common ground with others that leads to stronger relationships.
• Your Professional Reputation. This is how others perceive you as a leader and professional based on your current and previous behavior. Your professional reputation is what others think of you as a colleague, a leader, a stakeholder. Understanding your reputation helps you comprehend how you may be perceived and judged by others. Knowing how you’re perceived is sometimes difficult and requires trying to see yourself through other lenses. You can choose to change your current behavior, and you can influence how you would like others to think of you if you choose to change. This will take self-awareness, and trusted mentors.
• Leadership Potential. How do people know the leadership skills and behaviors you’re capable of, and how do you communicate your potential? What aspirational set of leadership skills and behaviors do you want colleagues to see in and from you? Defining how you’d like to be perceived allows you to choose what to work on, and where to start. Strong leadership skills can only be developed if you’re self-aware, willing to consider your leadership reputation, define your professional identity, and be reflective. For those who work at it, greater self-awareness will pay off no matter what your role.

Bringing it all Together

In this section we have examined how power is interwoven with leadership, introduced the current trend of stakeholders as sharing power and leadership in education for increased student and institutional success, described two leadership models, and examined many specific skills that you can practice as a leader in early care and education.  We introduced the reality that all of us are leaders in early care and education, and you have reflected on how your role in the field and in other work settings has created mental models for you depending on your position and perceptions.

We have introduced you to the collective leadership model as the one best suited for early care and education and offered some foundational skills you can choose to practice to promote that model.

We provided a scenario for each element of collective leadership earlier in this module. Can you see yourself in any of the scenarios? Might you, without knowing it, have been a contributor to collective leadership? Perhaps in a scenario like any of those written, you chose to use a leadership skill or behavior to make things better for you, or for a colleague. We think you probably have done one or the other, and that as was stated earlier, you already possess some of the skills described here.

It is our hope that at this point you see yourself as a leader in early childhood care and education, no matter what your current role, and that the collective leadership model makes sense to you as an effective and satisfying model for building and growing successful, intentional stakeholders.

Whatever your current role is, we know you will continue to grow and develop. Take the skills and behaviors provided for you here and create a plan for using them, every day. Start small and track your progress as you see results. Take some time to reflect on what puzzles you in your working relationships, and look for some help from other resources. Weekly jotting in a notebook will keep you on track, and you will see your persistence paying off. We will be with you on your journey!

Citations

O’Neill, Cassandra, Brinkerhoff, Monica (2018). Five Elements of Collective Leadership for Early Childhood Professionals. Redleaf Press and NAEYC: St. Paul: MN, Washington DC.

Leading Effectively Staff (2020). 4 Keys to Strengthen Your Ability to Influence Others. Center for Creative Leadership. https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/4-keys-strengthen-ability-influence-others/

Leading Effectively Staff (2020). The Core Leadership Skills you Need in Every Role. Center for Creative Leadership. https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/fundamental-4-core-leadership-skills-for-every-career-stage/

Leading Effectively Staff (2020). 4 Sure-Fire Ways to Boost Your Self Awareness. Center for Creative Leadership.https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/4-ways-boost-self-awareness/

Leading Effectively Staff (2020). Use Active Listening to Coach Others. Center for Creative Leadership. https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/coaching-others-use-active-listening-skills/

Leading Effectively Staff (2020). Why Communication is So Important for Leaders. Center for Creative Leadership. https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/communication-1-idea-3-facts-5-tips/