Day 2: Auditing the Firefighting
The Pivot: Most fires aren’t emergencies—they’re just unsolved systems.
Yesterday, we looked at your internal world—how you respond in high-stress moments.
Today, we shift to your external environment.
Most directors feel “too busy to lead.” But often, we’re not busy with leadership work—we’re busy with things that shouldn’t be on our plate at all.
Today, your job is to become a researcher of your own day.
Where is your energy actually going?
The Lesson: The Myth of the Emergency
Childcare directors report spending up to 80% of their day putting out fires.
But here’s the hard reality:
Most emergencies aren’t emergencies.
They’re signs of a missing system.
- If a teacher asks where the paper towels are every Tuesday…
That’s not an emergency. It’s a supply system failure. - If a parent calls—again—about the holiday schedule…
That’s not drama. It’s a communication gap.
Every time you jump in to solve the same issue without tracing it back to the system, you’re reinforcing dependency.
You become the system—and the bottleneck.
The Strategy: The Interrupt Audit
Today, don’t change how you work. Just observe.
Be a scientist, not a savior.
In the provided Course Workbook (or on a sticky note), keep track of every time someone interrupts you or pulls you away:
- Who interrupted you?
- What was the issue?
- Category:
- True Emergency (Blood, Fire, Licensing)
- System Leak (Questions, Supplies, Drama)
This is data. No judgment—just awareness.
The Practice: Personas and the Audit
If you are a...Watch for this today:
Firefighter: Notice how many “fires” you invited by being too available. Ask yourself: Do I get a rush from being the one who saves the day?
Peacekeeper: Track how often you said “Yes” to something you didn’t have to do—just to avoid saying “Not right now.”
Perfectionist: Count how many times you caused a fire by interrupting someone else to correct how they were doing it. That’s a “self-inflicted fire.”
Day 2 Exercise: The System Tally
At the end of your day, take five minutes to tally your Interrupt Log:
- Count how many times you were interrupted for something that could be fixed with:
a label, a checklist, or better training. - Pick the #1 Repeat Offender
(e.g., “Teachers asking where the cleaning logs are.”)
The Pivot:
Don’t get mad at the teacher.
Get curious about the system.
Ask yourself: “How could I make this clearer without needing to be involved?”
Director’s Journal Prompt
“Today, I was pulled away from my leadership work [Number] times.
The biggest 'System Leak' in my center right now is [Issue].
If I fixed this system, I would gain back [Time] every week.”