WHEN VIEWING ON A TABLET OR MOBILE -- DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM This book provides a clear framework and a systematic approach for you to become a more capable, competent, and effective leader of programs and schools serving young children. If you are a teacher educator, a principal, or an agency head, I hope this book will inspire you to mentor and guide the teachers and directors you work with. We all have a role to play in doing the right thing for chil- dren—by being leaders that provide and demand quality programs for all children. This book is a culmination of my years of study of a variety of leadership systems along with my personal experiences. Most of all, it is based on the set of guiding principles and core values that took root while I was working with those boys during my first teaching job and that have been developed through- out my own leadership journey. Discovering New Leaders I have been privileged to sit at many tables of leadership during my journey. At these tables, I hear the same recurring chorus: “We are a table of graying leaders. We need to recruit some new faces to take our places.” For a time I thought these laments were sincere, but as I returned to those tables meeting after meeting, the truth began to dawn on me. There were never going to be any new faces to speak of, only the same old faces, sitting in the same old places, singing their same old song of lament. I realized pretty quickly that if something was going to be done to change that tune regarding new faces at the leadership table, it was going to have to start with me. I didn’t rise into a leadership role on my own; I had been given a hand up from a mentor of mine, Gwen Morgan. Gwen was already a leader in the field of early childhood education, and she had seen some leadership potential in me. The opportunity she gave me, combined with a range of other experiences, led me to realize that the early identification and sponsorship of potential leaders by accomplished leaders is a strategic approach to ensuring that a next genera- tion of early childhood leaders are in the pipeline. Throughout my career I have continually sought out cutting-edge thinkers and practitioners who could challenge and inform my thinking and my lead- ership practices. I have searched everywhere for fellow journeyers who, like me, were interested in deepening their understanding of the art and science of leadership. introduction 5 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL