Lesson 5: Leading With Purpose — Start With Why

“Purpose isn’t fluff. It’s fuel.”

Running a childcare center is demanding in ways few people fully understand. You’re responsible for children’s safety, development, and emotional well-being—while also leading staff, supporting families, and navigating constant decisions.

It’s no surprise so many leaders feel overwhelmed, under-supported, and burned out.

And yet—you’re still here. You’re still showing up.

That matters.

But

leadership becomes unsustainable when you lose sight of why you lead in the first place.

Purpose isn’t an add-on to leadership.
It’s what allows leadership to last.

The Leader’s Anchor

In 2019, I went in for what was supposed to be a routine shoulder surgery.

As I was in the recovery room, still droggy from the anesthesia, my phone rang with an “urgent” issue at one of my centers.

Sound familiar?

Vacations, sick days—even surgeries—often don’t pass without a call that “only you” can handle. That’s the reality of leadership in childcare.

When the pressure builds and the demands pile up, your why becomes your anchor. It’s what keeps you steady when everything else feels like too much. Without it, leadership starts to feel heavy, personal, and exhausting.

What you focus on the longest becomes the strongest.

When you focus on your why, leadership becomes grounded—even in hard seasons.

The Cost vs. Benefit of Purpose

When your purpose gets buried—or never clearly defined—leadership quietly shifts into survival mode. When you stay connected to your purpose, leadership becomes anchored and intentional.

Leadership Without Purpose

• Reactions become transactional
• Small issues feel overwhelming
• The job starts to outpace the joy
• Burnout isn’t far behind

Leadership With Purpose

• Decisions feel clearer under pressure
• You lead with empathy and consistency
• Focus returns to what truly matters
• Resilience grows during tough seasons

Purpose doesn’t remove challenges.
It changes how you carry them.

Why Start With Why? (The Golden Circle)

Most leaders can clearly describe what they do. Some can explain how they do it. But the strongest leaders begin with why.

That’s where energy lives.

Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle helps visualize this:

• Why – Your core belief or purpose
• How – The values and actions that bring it to life
• What – The day-to-day work you do

When your why is clear, your how and what follow with more clarity, confidence, and consistency.

Crafting Your Leadership Purpose Statement

“If you can’t state your purpose in a sentence, you don’t have one.”
— Chloe R. Helyar

Your leadership purpose doesn’t need to be impressive—it needs to be true.

Start by reflecting on questions like:

• What originally drew me to this work?
• What moments in my day feel most meaningful?
• What do I hope my team says about me when I’m not in the room?
• What do I want families to feel when they walk through our doors?

For me, my why became clear early in my childcare career.

I was working with an afterschool group of fourth- to sixth-graders when I noticed a young girl sitting alone during a group activity. She looked deeply sad. I sat down beside her and asked if she was okay.

She wasn’t.

Her home life was hard. School wasn’t much better. I asked what activity she enjoyed most, then adjusted our plan to include it. Watching her smile and laugh that afternoon changed me.

On the drive home, I thought about my own childhood—about how many days feel heavy when you’re young.

That’s when I realized something important:
We can’t control what happens before or after children are with us—but while they’re in our care, we can make a meaningful difference.

That became my why. And it has carried me through every season of leadership—both the good and the hard ones.

Your Why

Now it’s your turn.

Your leadership purpose can be simple and personal.

Examples:

• “I lead to create spaces where children feel safe, valued, and supported every day.”
• “I lead to bring calm and clarity into a field that often feels chaotic.”

Write it. Post it. Save it.
Return to it when the days feel heavy.

Align Your Purpose With Your Center’s Mission

Most directors inherit a mission they didn’t write—and that’s okay.

Think of your center’s mission as the recipe.
Your leadership purpose is what brings that recipe to life.

Without leadership, a mission is just words on paper.
With your purpose guiding your decisions, it becomes a lived experience—one your team and families can feel.

Prepare for Hard Days: Anchor Your Why

Hard days will come. Purpose helps you meet them with steadiness instead of depletion.

Consider:

1. Posting your purpose where you’ll see it daily
2. Choosing a grounding word or phrase (e.g., Breathe. This matters. Begin again.)
3. Taking brief reset breaks—step outside, breathe, write
4. Sharing your purpose with someone who can remind you when you forget

Purpose doesn’t make leadership easy.
It makes it sustainable.

Reflection Prompt

What is your personal why for leading in early childhood?

Where does it show up clearly in your daily choices—and where might it have faded into the background?