Why Leadership in Early Learning Requires More Than Just Skill

Why Leadership in Early Learning Requires More Than Just Skill

By Mark Wager

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with leaders across nearly every industry you can imagine—finance, aviation, construction, healthcare, sport. And truthfully, every time I step into a new sector, a small part of me wonders, “Could I do this job?”

But there’s one sector where that voice goes completely silent.

It’s when I walk into an early learning centre.

There’s something deeply humbling about watching people care for children with such compassion, energy, and grace—while juggling regulations, emotional labour, staffing issues, family dynamics, and the daily unpredictability that comes with tiny humans. As someone who teaches leadership for a living, I can say with full confidence: early childhood education (ECE) is one of the most demanding leadership environments there is.

And that’s exactly why I wrote Hearts That Lead: Transforming Early Learning Through Inspired Leadership.

This isn’t just a leadership book with early learning examples sprinkled in. It was written specifically for centre leaders, team leaders, and emerging leaders in early learning—people who often get promoted because of their heart, but suddenly find themselves needing a whole new skillset.

This article pulls back the curtain on some of the key ideas from the book. Whether you’re a current leader or one day hope to be, I hope what follows will affirm the work you’re already doing—and encourage you to grow even further.

Why ECE Leadership Is Different

Most people underestimate how complex early learning leadership really is. You’re not just managing tasks—you’re holding space for people. You’re creating a nurturing environment not just for tamariki, but also for kaiako. You’re translating vision into rosters, regulations into real-life practice, and emotions into action.

And most days, you’re doing all of that while being interrupted every five minutes.

ECE leaders wear many hats—mentor, mediator, coach, administrator, parent-whisperer, counsellor, and sometimes cleaner. The emotional demands are high, and yet most people in leadership roles in ECE have had little to no training in leadership itself.

That’s not a flaw—it’s just the reality. And it’s why so many heart-led educators end up overwhelmed. They care so much that they say “yes” to everything—until burnout knocks on the door.

So what do we do about it?

Leadership Starts With You

One of the most important ideas in Hearts That Lead is this: if you want to lead others well, you have to lead yourself first.

That means setting boundaries—not just around your time, but around your energy. I’ve worked with many leaders who hate saying no. So instead, we reframe it. You don’t have to say no outright. Just make the impact of the yes visible.

For example:

“I’m happy to stay late and finish this—but that will mean I can’t be as present tomorrow morning. Would you prefer I do it now or block time tomorrow?”

Boundaries aren’t walls—they’re bridges. They help people know where you stand and what they can count on from you. The best leaders model this balance and give permission for others to do the same.

What You Don’t See Can Hurt You

Another key challenge for heart-led leaders is subconscious bias.

Even the most caring and emotionally intelligent people have blind spots. One of the most common is called false consensus—the assumption that everyone thinks the way we do.

Let’s say you pride yourself on staying late and going the extra mile. Subconsciously, you may start judging a team member who leaves on time—not because they’re doing anything wrong, but because it clashes with your values. This creates distance, even if it’s unspoken.

That’s why it’s so important to slow down and check your assumptions.

Good leadership asks: What am I not seeing? What am I assuming? And how might that be affecting the people around me?

Conversations That Shape Culture

If there’s one leadership skill that makes the biggest difference in early learning, it’s communication.

The words you use shape how others think—and how they think about you.

One of my favourite studies comes from a group of researchers who asked witnesses about a car crash. One group was asked: “How fast was the car going when it bumped the other?” The second group was asked: “How fast was it going when it smashed into the car?”

The second group remembered the cars going much faster—even though they saw the same footage.

What’s the lesson? The way you frame a conversation changes how people remember it.

In leadership, that means being intentional. If someone’s often late, don’t start with “Why are you always late?” Instead, try: “I want to talk about how we show respect for each other’s time.”

It’s the same topic, but the conversation feels completely different.

Teams That Move (and Still Work)

Turnover is a reality in ECE. People move, life changes, babies arrive. If your leadership depends on stability, it will crumble when faces change.

That’s why one chapter in Hearts That Lead focuses on building moving teams—ones that can stay cohesive and purposeful even as people come and go.

It starts with onboarding. Not the paperwork kind, but the human kind. Ask:

• What do you need from me to do your job well?
• When you do a great job, how would you like to be acknowledged?
• When something goes wrong, how do you prefer I approach it?

These conversations build trust before you need it. And they signal that this is a place where people matter.

Learning Without Overload

ECE professionals love to learn—but they’re also exhausted. So how do you build a learning culture without adding pressure?

You integrate learning into daily life.

A growth mindset, popularised by Carol Dweck’s work, teaches us that ability isn’t fixed. We can grow. We can get better. But we have to believe that effort matters.

Instead of “You’re so good at this,” say: “I love how you kept trying until you got it.”

Instead of “This didn’t work,” ask: “What can we try next time?”

The goal isn’t perfection—it’s momentum.

Handling Conflict With Heart

Conflict doesn’t mean something’s wrong—it just means people care.

In fact, some of the strongest teams are the ones who’ve worked through hard conversations together. But to do that well, leaders need to stay steady.

A helpful tip is to challenge ideas, not people. That means listening first. Understand their perspective, acknowledge it, then offer an alternative—not as a correction, but as another way of seeing things.

People don’t resist being challenged. They resist feeling dismissed.

And sometimes, the most powerful thing you can say in a difficult moment is: “Can we slow down for a second? I think we both want the same outcome, even if we see the path differently.”

The Legacy of a Heart-Led Leader

Leadership is temporary. Your impact isn’t.

The mark you leave won’t be the number of reports you wrote or how quickly you responded to emails. It will be the moments you believed in someone before they believed in themselves. It will be the staff member who stayed in the sector because you gave them hope on a hard day. It will be the child whose eyes lit up because their teacher had the energy—and inspiration—to show up fully.

If you lead with heart, you’ll lead people to more than just a task—you’ll lead them to believe in who they are becoming.

Final Thoughts (And a Gift)

If anything in this article resonated, I’d love to offer you a free copy of Hearts That Lead.

It’s not yet available for public release, but I’m offering complimentary digital copies to anyone who works in an early learning centre. All I ask in return is that if you find it valuable, you pass it along to someone else who might benefit—or share your feedback with me.

You can request your copy at:

�� https://www.australasianleadershipinstitute.com/hearts-that-lead

And if you’re a leader who wants to go further, I’m also offering a 30-minute strategy session—no cost, no pressure, just support. Message me and we’ll make it happen.

To everyone working in early learning: I admire you more than you know. Keep leading with heart. You’re shaping not just futures—but lives.