Updates to the Whole Leadership Framework: Responding to Voices in the Field

McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY Marie L. Masterson, Teri N. Talan, Jill M. Bella | May 28, 2024

Copyright © Dimensions Educational Research Foundation. Reprinted with permission from Exchange Press. All rights reserved. Visit us at hub.exchangepress.com or call (800) 221-2864.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the Summer 2024 edition of Exchange magazine.

A page of a book titled updates to the whole leadership framework.
A picture of a leadership framework with birds flying in the background
A poster with a circle in the middle that says ' leadership ' on it
A woman is sitting at a table talking to a man.

In 2017, the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University developed the Whole Leadership Framework with diverse voices from the field to define the critical components of early childhood leadership and to ensure consistent approaches to leadership standards and competencies. In 2023, the framework was revised by Building on Whole Leadership: Energizing and Strengthening Your Early Childhood Program authors (Masterson, M.L., Talan, T.N., & Bella, J.M.) in response to current research, the needs of the profession, and additional feedback collected from over 200 early childhood leaders as part of the Building Leaders Project, funded by the Foundation for Child Development. The book, Building on Whole Leadership: Energizing and Strengthening Your Early Childhood Program, provides a variety of tools that can be used by administrators to enhance their core knowledge, skills, and behaviors to foster effective and thriving early childhood organizations.

A woman is sitting at a table talking to a man.

Please click here to download the Whole Leadership Framework.

< Older Post

Newer Post >
An individual in a denim jacket and brown pants stands smiling in a crowded conference room, surrounded by seated people.

Rising Leader and 2025 Scholarship Recipient Shadeen Holmes attends Leadership Connections for the First Time

By Lailah Malone • March 25, 2026
Paula Jorde Bloom's legacy brought Shadeen Holmes to Leadership Connections : Shadeen received the 2025 Paula Jorde Bloom scholarship for aspiring and emerging leaders in early childhood education and care.
Show More