What You Need to Lead an Early Childhood Program: Emotional Intelligence in Practice

Unless we can build and maintain honest, productive, and dynamic relationships with everyone we encounter, we cannot be excellent leaders. Unless we can build effectiveteams, our carefully crafted vision statement will gather dust. Unless we inspire our staff’s trust, we cannot bring out their best. Unless we earn the respect of families, our business plan will never be fulfilled. Without people skills, even the most stellar academic credentials are just capital letters after our name.

“What You Need to Lead an Early Childhood Program: Emotional Intelligence in Practice” is the first and only early childhood leadership book anchored in what matters most: the art and science of building relationships. Emotional intelligence is the ability to read people as well as you read books and to know how to use that information wisely. Each chapter begins with a case study that features richly complex, everyday challenges facing early childhood program directors. Alongside case studies are theory and principles, pointers and problem-solving steps to help you practice and hone your leadership skills.

The most effective early childhood directors manage through relationships. This important book guides a director through the steps to build respectful, dynamic, and welcoming relationships with families and staff. It covers all traditional early childhood administration topics, from financial management to marketing and development, while also recognizing and exploring the human side of management and the critical role of emotional intelligence in effective leadership.

In addition, if you lead workshops or are a teacher educator, at the end of each chapter there are questions for reflection and team projects to engage participants in professional development sessions and to extend the learning of students in early childhood education courses.

"By connecting emotional intelligence to leadership, Holly fills a void that exists in the field. Her case studies and real life scenarios allow the reader to relate to and solve everyday problems in a manner that supports how early childhood practitioners think, feel, and practice."

Sue Offutt, Executive Director, McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership

Table of Contents

Preface

Part I �" Forming: Setting Up the Program and Yourself for Success
???Chapter 1 - Five Essential Leadership Competencies: You Heard It Here
???Chapter 2 - Smart Heart-to-Heart Leadership: Honoring Emotional Intelligence
???Chapter 3 - Making Tough Decisions: The Art and Science of Decision Making
???Chapter 4 - Leading on Purpose: The Road to Making a Difference

Part II �" Storming: Identifying, Preventing, and Addressing Resistance to Change
???Chapter 5 - Getting Started: Wherever You Are Is the Place to Begin
???Chapter 6 - Partnering with Change
???Chapter 7 - Preventing Legal Issues: Policies and Procedures
???Chapter 8 - Creating a Community of Problem Solvers: Winners, Not Whiners

Part III�"Norming: Establishing Management Systems
???Chapter 9 - Supervision and Staff Development: Social EQ in Action
???Chapter 10 - Financial Management: Holding the Purse Strings
???Chapter 11 - Do No Harm: Building Safe, Sustainable, Healthy Learning Environments
???Chapter 12 - Curriculum Choices: Roots and Wings
???Chapter 13 - Marketing and Development: If You Build It, They Will Come

Part IV�"Performing: Putting Principles into Practice
???Chapter 14 - Every Child’s Family: Building Partnerships
???Chapter 15 - Quest for Quality: Professionalism Isn’t Just a 15-Letter Word

Part V�"Re-Forming: Renewing, Refreshing, Dreaming of What Might Be
???Chapter 16 - Leadership Principles to Take with You: Learning to Love the Questions

ISBN: 978-1-928896-80-7