McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY Janet Moore | August 10, 2015

This document may be printed, photocopied, and disseminated freely with attribution. All content is the property of the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership.

STATEGIES TO INSPIRE COLLABORATION

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”

— John Quincy Adams 


As the former director of a child care center, I inherited a disconnected staff. They came to work every day because of their love for the children, but they were not committed to the program’s vision; they didn’t even know the vision. They worked side-by-side with their coworkers, but there was no cohesiveness among them. After months of strategic planning, I learned that inspiring others to dream while they learn will invoke them to work well together and ultimately grow! 


HOW DO WE INSPIRE EMERGING LEADERS TO LEARN AND WORK TOGETHER TOWARD A SHARED VISION? 

That is the million dollar question that many in leadership roles have asked themselves. There are several answers, but, through research, dialogue, and eventually trial-and-error, I have learned a few strategies that lay the foundation for inspiring a collaborative team of emerging leaders. 


A team is expected to work together, get the job done, and produce results, but collaboration is hindered when team members do not work well together. Collaboration is also hindered when the leader’s actions do not inspire others. A collaborative team works together through idea-sharing and thinking toward a common goal. Collaboration is essential to team success and inspiring collaboration is essential to the success of a collaborative team. 


Dream more

A collaborative team shares a common goal and vision. They share core beliefs and values. Creating an environment that allows team members to dream entails the leader sharing his/her own vision for the team. This will elicit members to think about their roles, share their dreams, and express their commitment. Dreaming will build a community of trust and ultimately prioritize team actions. 


Learn to trust more

Learn as much as you can from your team. Team members must trust each other if they are going to share their dreams and express their commitment. The trust begins with the leader first trusting the team. Be honest. Work to eliminate conflict and give each team member the benefit of the doubt. Trust is the foundation for a collaborative environment and paves the way to ongoing learning. 


Do more

Take responsibility for being heard and understood. Recognize team members’ efforts by working alongside your team and ensuring that everyone is on the same page. Seeking to understand everyone’s perspective will empower team members. When we lead by example we breed a community of collaboration and growth. 


Become more

When leaders share their vision, encourage trust, and openly communicate, they inspire the team to share goals, learn more about each other and themselves, and prioritize the team’s actions. When a leader dreams, learns, and does more, they inspire their team to become more! 


Here are some more resources that can provide insight into this topic: 

by Paula Jorde Bloom, Ann Hentschel, and Jill Bella 

by Paula Jorde Bloom 

by Diane Whitney, Amanda Trosten-Bloom, and Kae Rader 

Janet Moore is an Assessor and Training Specialist with the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University. She holds a master’s degree in Early Childhood Administration. Prior to working at the McCormick Center, Janet worked as an early childhood teacher, executive director of an early childhood program, and education consultant.

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The AI-Enabled Administrator: Reclaim Valuable Time

By Dr. Neal Green • February 8, 2026
Tools: Gemini Gems, NotebookLM, Perplexity Spaces Overview The evidence is clear that early childhood professionals' most significant challenge is a lack of time. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, when used strategically, can give administrators some of the time they desperately need, allowing them to focus more on their staff and the children and families in their care. This approach aligns with the foundational goal of strengthening leadership effectiveness and program impact (Abel, Talan, & Masterson, 2023). When I scan the AI landscape of available products and platforms, it becomes overwhelming. There are so many options that it is impossible to keep up with every new development. Focusing on a limited number of AI tools backed by organizations with strong infrastructure and fiscal stability is a wise place to start your AI journey. McCormick Institute for Early Childhood’s (MIEC’s) upcoming professional development sessions will focus on three AI tools. These include Gemini Gems, NotebookLM, and Perplexity Spaces. Think of Gemini Gems as your customized AI assistant that you "train" to follow your rules and meet your goals. Gemini Gems are the right tool to tackle Internal Operations . NotebookLM is perfect for creating Family Support resources that stick. NotebookLM is a powerful AI tool that uses only the documents or other resources you add to generate specific, focused output. Perplexity Spaces is a fantastic choice to address Marketing demands. Like many AI tools, you can toggle back and forth between open web searches and focused documents that are specific to your work. Gemini Gems: The “Specialist Teammate” Gemini Gems allow you to create templates you can use repeatedly for agendas, HR policies, and more. If you have used AI in the past, you know that writing an effective prompt takes time, and they can easily get "lost" if you use AI often. Gems removes that challenge and lets you save your most effective prompts without having to rewrite them every time you use Gemini. It is up to you to decide if you want to create several smaller Gems to tackle common challenges you face or create larger Gems that encompass large swaths of your work. For our purposes, we will focus our Gem work on Internal Operations, addressing Program Administration Scale (PAS) Item 9: Internal Communications (Talan & Bloom, 2011). Imagine using a Gem to turn messy staff meeting notes into professional minutes with clear action plans in minutes or less! NotebookLM: The "Walled Garden" NotebookLM is an excellent tool for Family Support for your center, addressing PAS Item 17: Family Support and Involvement (Talan & Bloom, 2011). After uploading documents and resources, such as your parent handbook or community referral lists, to your Notebook, you can create several resources that parents/guardians of your center students will love. Just a few of the impressive features available with NotebookLM include audio (podcast) summaries, video summaries, and reporting functions with templates or the option to create your own report with metrics that matter most to you. Perplexity Spaces: The "Research Librarian" Perplexity Spaces is a perfect AI partner for Marketing your early childhood education (ECE) program, addressing PAS Item 18: External Communications (Talan & Bloom, 2011). You can build your own centralized repository, with control over branding to ensure consistency and present a professional, current image. Adding specific instructions to your space eliminates the need to format documents constantly and saves valuable time. The consistency that a Perplexity Space offers in this regard allows you to upload messages that are the "voice” of your brand. Your marketing efforts are not only more aesthetically pleasing but also enable you to track trends at similar centers in your area, helping you assess the competition. Strategies for Success: Audit your Internal Communications: Identify one repetitive task, such as creating staff meeting agendas (PAS Item 9), and automate it with a Gemini Gem. Curate your Family Resources: Gather three to five existing documents to "feed" a NotebookLM project for more responsive family support (PAS Item 17). Standardize your Brand: Use a Perplexity Space to ensure all public relations tools project a consistent, professional image (PAS Item 18). Reflection Questions: Which administrative task takes the most time away from your interactions with staff and families? How might centralizing marketing materials (branding) impact the professional image to prospective families? Table 1: AI Tools for ECE Professionals
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