Schools of Excellence: The No. 1 ECE & Private School Leadership Podcast

What does it feel like when you belong? It's not always easy to put into words, but when you know, you know . Think about what it's like to go to the mall. Each of its stores has a unique environment and style that appeal to different types of people—you won't find the same crowd in Abercrombie & Fitch as you would in Old Navy. The reason for that has to do with belonging. Even if you can't ex...

Within the early childhood education space, many owners have dreams of growing their centers but are hesitant about taking on investors.  Oftentimes, their skepticism stems from the fear of their vision being compromised by a loss of control and misaligned values. And while this is a valid concern, it's also misplaced. Taking on an investor isn't like hiring a boss. It's not about handing ove...

​We all have limits to what we can tolerate… and what we can't. Once, I was working with a director who went into a tailspin if the grapes at snack time weren't sliced. Whenever she saw that a staff member had forgotten to slice them, she would react with panic and anger.  While un-sliced grapes may not bother everyone to such a degree, they pushed this director to her limits. Whether it's fr...

What if I told you that training a new team member wasn't much different from coaching an Olympian? Bear with me for a second. When you coach your son's Little League baseball team, you're likely giving him and all his teammates one of their first introductions to the sport. That means you have to teach them every aspect of the game—from their batting technique to how to lose gracefully. That's go...

Discernment is a topic I address here often, and for good reason: It's a key ingredient to many aspects of strong leadership. One of the areas in which discernment is especially important is delegation. Whether at home with your family or at school with your team, there are times to delegate and there are times to maintain ownership of tasks.  Just as you wouldn't delegate the responsibility...

When you go to a restaurant, the quality of the food is critical to whether or not you like the restaurant and want to go back.  But food isn't the only thing that matters, is it? There are a lot of other aspects of the experience that are just as important, if not more so. The service, atmosphere, and cost are just a few things that come to mind. Well, the same can be said about early childh...

Raising tuition can be a touchy subject for owners. It's something you know you have to do—something you have the right to do—and yet you feel the need to justify it every time. This was also true for Courtney Greiner, owner of Mini Mos Child Care and Preschool. In the early years of running her school, Courtney struggled to find a balance between the desire to improve her center and the very real...

You already know that feedback is an important part of growth. All of us need to be given the chance to view our work critically so we can find the areas that need improvement. This is especially true of you as a leader. To build a school of excellence, you need to be able to receive honest feedback from trusted members of your team. But feedback—as its name suggests—is focused on the past . As a...

Last week, I talked about drama and the toll it can take on the culture of your center. We started to identify the different symptoms of drama to look out for, including complaining about the small things, gossip, and playing the victim. Another sign that drama has infiltrated your school culture is inconsistent actions and behaviors among your team. In other words, when someone goes from one extr...

Gossip is a normal part of the human experience—I mean, who doesn't perk up their ears when they hear a juicy piece of information? We all engage in at least some of the time because it plays an important role in our ability to connect with others.  But… some individuals gossip significantly more than others. (I'm sure we can all name people in our lives who jump on gossip like hungry wolves...

When I talk about school culture, I'm not talking about Secret Santa gift exchanges, karaoke night, or the pingpong table in the breakroom. Instead, culture is about the conversation that happens around the ping pong table. It's the set of shared core values and practices that define the day-to-day interactions and decisions in your center. A healthy culture is essential to building a school of ex...

If you had to be brutally honest with yourself right now, where are you focusing the majority of your attention?  On yourself? On your family?  Or are you primarily focusing on your center? If that's you, you're definitely not alone. Many of the owners and directors I work with have been in your shoes, including Aliyah Johnson-Roberts. Back in 2020, Aliyah found herself so focused on her...

In the midst of the pandemic, there were days when I wondered whether we'd ever return to attending in-person events.  As helpful as Zoom was during that time, there was a silent collective agreement that virtual events could never compare to the energy and connection we experience when interacting with others face-to-face. Fortunately, we've since gone back to in-person events, and it's been...

It's the beginning of 2023, which means the promise of a whole new year of possibilities! As a visionary, you're likely especially anxious about getting started on tackling your new goals for your center. But as a visionary, you also need to ensure you stay grounded in reality—and that means recognizing that not every new opportunity is of real value to your center. Because you want the very best...

One struggle that seems to come up again and again for school leaders is onboarding.  Year after year, I see owners and directors stressing over this consistent and necessary aspect of running a school—almost as if they didn't see it coming. If you fall into the same boat, I want you to pause and consider why that might be. If onboarding is such a repetitive process, why does it continue to b...

When you're caught up in the day-to-day responsibilities of running your school, planning for the future can become the last thing on your mind. But thinking about what comes next for your center is essential to setting goals that will help you build a school of excellence and a legacy you can be proud of. And oftentimes, those goals involve raising funds to make those big-picture projects a reali...

Whether we like it or not, the unexpected is bound to happen. Injuries on the playground, accidents in the classroom, and even instances of verbal or physical abuse by your own staff members can and will disrupt your school. As much as we wish we could avoid these types of incidents, there's only so much that's within our control.  All you can do is take the proper steps to plan for them. One...

One time, I had an owner ask me whether there's a universal set of values that all centers should have. My answer was no, actually, there's not. Confused? Let me explain. The truth is that while there are many common values we think we should prioritize, at the end of the day, the values we actually prioritize are the ones that drive our decision making. Here's an example: Oftentimes, I hear owner...

We need to address the elephant in the room.  After coming out of a multi-year pandemic, we’re possibly headed into a global recession. With what seems like global threat after global threat, it can be hard not to feel like everything is all doom and gloom. Will there be a recession?  How severe will it be?  How long will it last?  How will it affect the ECE industry?  How...

As a leader, it’s your job to see the forest through the trees. While your staff are involved in the details of the day-to-day, you’re the one that keeps an eye on how everything fits into the bigger picture. And that means you’ve likely noticed some things: You’ve had to raise your tuition rates. Your occupancy has fallen due to staff shortages. You’ve felt pressured to increase your pay rate to...

Throughout my career coaching leaders in early childhood education, I’ve worked with owners and directors at various points in their journey. So, I have firsthand knowledge of what that journey can look like and how challenging it can be.   I know that right now, you may be feeling stressed, overworked, and exhausted. Maybe you’re sick of putting out fires and dealing with staff turnover. Maybe—ju...

Having closed out a month of Jewish holiday celebrations in October, I find myself reflecting on how holidays do such a good job of highlighting the importance of routines, rituals, and experiences. Each of them serves a unique role in our daily lives. A routine is a consistent, repeated action we take that helps set expectations and provide structure. For my family during the holidays, that looks...

We’ve all had role models throughout our lives, whether parents, teachers, friends, or the people we look up to from afar (like astronauts or Olympic athletes).   These people serve as examples of who we want to become, and so we absorb their behaviors and values in an effort to replicate their actions and accomplishments.   Whether they intend to or not, our role models have the power to influenc...

Many of us have those “special” family stories—you know, the ones you’ve heard a million times that have been passed down from generation to generation.   For me, the one that always comes to mind is when my grandfather traveled to New York and met the Rebbe, one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century.    My grandfather was born in Russia during the communist regime, and in 197...

When it comes to the holidays, I think we’re all a little guilty of overcommitting ourselves without checking our calendars. After all, it’s hard to stay grounded in realism when you’re enveloped in the warmth and thrill of the holiday season.   Leaders, though, are especially susceptible to overcommitting. As natural visionaries and care-takers, we easily fall into the trap of thinking we can—and...