Lesson 5: Leading With Purpose — Start With Why
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 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.
The leader's anchor
In 2019, I went in for what was supposed to be a routine shoulder surgery. As I sat in the recovery room, still groggy from the anesthesia, my phone rang with an "urgent" issue at one of my centers. Sound familiar? Vacations, sick days — even surgeries — rarely 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.
When you focus on your why, leadership stays grounded, even in hard seasons.
The cost and benefit of purpose
Purpose doesn’t remove challenges. It changes how you carry them.
Why start with why?
Most leaders can describe what they do. Some can explain how they do it. But the strongest leaders begin with why — because that's where energy lives.
Your core belief or purpose.
The values and actions that bring it to life.
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
Start by reflecting. Your leadership purpose doesn’t need to be impressive. It needs to be true.
For me, my why became clear early in my 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, and 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 heavy some days feel when you're young. That's when I realized something: 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 — the good and the hard.
Your why
One sentence. That’s the bar. “If you can’t state your purpose in a sentence, you don’t have one.” — Chloe R. Helyar
Now it's your turn. Your leadership purpose can be simple and personal:
- "I lead so that children feel safe, valued, and supported every day, because every child deserves a place where they can thrive."
- "I lead so that others grow in confidence, because I know what it feels like to lead without support."
Write it. Post it. Save it. Return to it when the days feel heavy.
And remember: 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 something your team and families can feel.
Reflection
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?
Turn to Lesson 5 in your workbook to write your one-sentence leadership purpose statement.