McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY Barbara Volpe | April 12, 2022

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

In one of our Leadership Academy sessions, we engage in an activity that asks the participants to reflect on their professional journey leading up to their current role as director. Considering what they know now, what advice would they give their younger self? What would they write in a letter to themselves? I left the training reflecting on this activity and pondered what advice I would give myself when I entered my first leadership position. Resulting from that reflection is the following letter to my past self.


Dear Barb,


Congratulations on your promotion! I know you are both excited about this opportunity to step into a leadership role and terrified about the challenges, worried that you are not prepared for the tasks ahead. You want to get started on the right foot and be the best leader you can be. I want to reassure you that you are where you need to be—you are qualified in so many ways for this position! If I could be your mentor now, I would offer a few pieces of advice from my years of experience and reflection on leadership that will help you as you begin this journey.


  • Dedicate yourself to building relationships with all of your staff. People management will take the largest amount of your time, so it is essential that you hone your relationship-building skills. Learn more about the art of communication, and practice tried and true skills, such as active listening, asking questions and rephrasing for understanding, and non-verbal communication. Take time to walk about and talk to each staff member individually and in small groups. Listen and learn!
  • Devote time to engage in reflective practice. Reflective practice will help you increase your self-awareness, grow your observational skills, and develop a better understanding of others. Explore models of reflective practice to find one that you can use to help you become more self-aware and reflective. Write this John C. Maxwell quote in the front of your journal, “Reflective thinking turns experience into insight.” Insight will connect your head and heart knowledge to help you lead others more effectively.
  • Gather resources to grow your knowledge in administrative leadership. Learn as much as you can about organizational climate, prioritizing and developing systems, goal-setting, and operational leadership tasks (budgeting, hiring, and supporting staff). Try to find a mentor who can be your critical friend; someone who can be supportive, encouraging, and provide you with honest feedback.
  • Find a healthy balance between your personal and professional life. Michelle Obama says, “We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘To Do’ list.” Maintaining a work-life balance is important for your mental, physical, and emotional health. It also reduces stress and will help your attention and focus at work. Build in time for creative activity; it feeds your soul. And remember to breathe!
  • Give yourself grace, show yourself some compassion and patience. You do not need to have all the answers; accept that you will make mistakes. Remember, it is progress, not perfection, and no one is perfect. Focus on what you can control, do your best, and use those mistakes as learning opportunities.


All of this advice would be great if I could, in reality, pass it on to you. You will learn all of this, of course, through the years by trial and error, connecting with really great colleagues who will become your mentors and thought partners, and through your desire to continue to grow as a leader. I am so thankful that you had the courage to take that first step!


Sending hugs and love,

Barb


What advice would you give your past self? How much of this advice are you following today? How could you follow the advice better? Reflecting on your past and lessons learned can help with your current experiences. It can remind you of what is important, ensure you continue to head in the right direction, and help you be a better mentor to those you lead.


If you are interested in building your self-awareness and reflection skills, consider attending one of the McCormick Center’s leadership academies: Ready to Lead, Taking Charge of ChangeTM, or Taking the Lead. Information on all of these professional development opportunities can be found here.


RESOURCES FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD ADMINISTRATORS ON LEADERSHIP


Books

  • Building on Whole Leadership by Marie Masterson, Michael Abel, Teri Talan, and Jill Bella.
  • From the Inside Out: The Power of Reflection and Self-Awareness by Paula Jorde Bloom
  • Graceful Leadership in Early Childhood Education by Ann McClain Terrell
  • Inspiring Early Childhood Leadership: Eight Strategies to Ignite Passion and Transform Program Quality by Susan MacDonald
  • Leadership in Action: How Effective Directors Get Things Done by Paula Jorde Bloom
  • The Visionary Director, Third Edition: A Handbook for Dreaming, Organizing, and Improvising in Your Center by Margie Carter, Luz Maria Casio, et al.

 

Websites and Blogs

Barb Volpe, M.Ed., is the Leadership Academy Manager for the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University (NLU). In this role, she manages and facilitates leadership academies and quality improvement training for early childhood administrators and technical assistance providers. Barb has over 25 years of leadership and management experience. Barb enjoys developing trainings and has made many local, statewide, and national presentations. Barb obtained her M.Ed. from NLU in early childhood administration and her B.S. in child and family development from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Prior to her work at the McCormick Center, Barb worked in the early childhood field as an infant/toddler and preschool teacher, site director, and education coordinator for both community-based programs and Head Start. She has written articles on topics in leadership and management of early childhood programs and taught for several years as adjunct faculty at the local community college. Barb’s passion is to support center and home-based administrators in making continuous quality improvement for the care and education of young children and their families.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

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
Show More