The North Star of Leadership Essentials

A woman wearing glasses and a suit is smiling in front of a flag.

Sim Loh is a family partnership coordinator at Children’s Village, a nationally-accredited Keystone 4 STARS early learning and school-age enrichment program in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, serving about 350 children. She supports children and families, including non-English speaking families of immigrant status, by ensuring equitable access to education, health, employment, and legal information and resources on a day-to-day basis. She is a member of the Children First Racial Equity Early Childhood Education Provider Council, a community member representative of Philadelphia School District Multilingual Advisory Council, and a board member of Historic Philadelphia.


Sim explains, “I ensure families know their rights and educate them on ways to speak up for themselves and request for interpretation/translation services. I share families’ stories and experiences with legislators and decision-makers so that their needs are understood. Attending Leadership Connections will help me strengthen and grow my skills in all domains by interacting with and hearing from experienced leaders in different positions. With newly acquired skills, I seek to learn about the systems level while paying close attention to the accessibility and barriers of different systems and resources and their impacts on young children and their families.”

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

On March 3, my colleague and friend Mike Abel released a blog post about three mutually important, yet entwined, paths to Whole Leadership—leadership essentials, administrative leadership, and pedagogical leadership. Today, let’s spark a dialogue about one of them—leadership essentials.


This is the definition offered for leadership essentials:


“Leadership essentials are foundational competencies necessary for leading people that are expressed in personal leadership styles and dispositions. These essential competencies include awareness of self, others, and the profession; communication and team-building skills; cultural competence; and ethical conduct. Essential leadership qualities include courage, empathy, vision, inspiration, authenticity, and passion. Leadership essentials are often developed through reflective practice. These qualities are embedded in everything the leader does and are necessary for both administrative and pedagogical leadership.” 


As I ponder this definition, I wonder how the term and definition resonates with you. Should we use another term? What’s missing from the description? What are your stories of leadership essentials?


Here are a few of my ‘journal’ reflections of leadership essentials (LE) from March 3:


  • 8am: Two hours after reading the LE definition, one of my favorite quotes popped up in a another blog: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams This quote captures the essence of LE.
  • 11am: Five hours later, I was working with colleagues to plan details of the 2016 McCormick Center Leadership Academies. Specifically, we were organizing vision board and reflection activities. This effort shows we believe LE can be taught.
  • 8pm: I was enjoying one of my favorite pastimes—watching a theater production. I highly recommend the show The Compass. It left me thinking about how much our own ‘north star’ or compass is central to LE.
  • 10pm: During the post-show discussion a patron offered these words, “As an audience member, I’ve never helped write the story, so when I heard my comments used in the show, my interest piqued.” This made me think,if LE is about leading people, team-building, empathy, and cultural competency, we must create spaces for team members to contribute their ideas AND see them in action.

Safiyah Jackson, manages a portfolio of leadership academies focused on program-level quality improvement, and change management trainings. She develops strategic partnerships to foster high-quality early childhood program administration practices.

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Let’s Talk About Bullying

By Sherry Rocha • June 12, 2025
Bullying has been around for ages. That doesn’t mean it’s ok, or we should get used to it. It is a persistent problem for all ages, and now it’s reaching into our early childhood programs. What can program administrators do? Some definitions and tips are below. WHAT IS BULLYING? Bullying has been described as a student’s repeated exposure to negative actions on the part of one or more students in which there is an imbalance of power between bullies and the victim. Some children learn that by bullying others, they can get ahead. It can affect the goals of education if not handled well. While the behaviors of young children can sometimes be aggressive, they lack the more strategic and deliberate actions that typically define bullying. Still, early behaviors can be precursors to later behavior, so awareness and positive interventions are needed . Bullying prevention can be embedded into SEL practices, diversity awareness, and behavior guidance practices of early childhood programs. HOW COMMON IS BULLYING? Most studies look at bullying as something that involves older children. Research on early childhood bullying is still developing. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) is considered one of the most effective school-based anti-bullying programs that schools and centers study. Its founder, Dan Olweus, Ph.D, found that 35-40% of boys characterized as bullies in grades 6-9 had been convicted of at least three officially registered crimes by the age of 24. Bullies sometimes teach their children to be bullies. PREVENTION AND GUIDANCE CONCERNING BULLYING There are things parents, teachers, and friends can do to prevent or stop bullying . During the early childhood years, programs to help prevent bullying are helpful. Teachers and parents should be role models of caring behavior. Children raised in safe and nurturing environments will learn to be caring individuals. As children’s abilities develop, they can learn anger management, problem-solving skills, and decision-making skills. TEACHERS AND PARENTS CAN ALSO: Dispel myths that bullying is part of childhood. Encourage a positive environment by stating desirable behavior instead of negative behavior. Emphasize respect, fairness, caring, and responsibility in classrooms. Incorporate lessons about appropriate social skills in classrooms and everywhere; provide words for children to use. Understand the seriousness of bullying. Encourage children to consider the needs of others. Parents can arrange play groups for their children. A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM SHOULD: Promote a caring, respectful environment Help victims help themselves Challenge the bullies’ thinking Consider the effects of peer pressure Elicit students’ input FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA). (2025, February 5). Get help now. StopBullying.gov. https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/get-help-now The Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life. (n.d.). Olweus bullying prevention program, Clemson University. Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, Clemson University. https://clemsonolweus.org/ Temkin, D., & Snow, K. (2015, August 18). To prevent bullying, focus on early childhood. NAEYC. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/prevent-bullying-focus-early-childhood
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