What You Need to Lead: An Early Childhood Program- Emotional Intelligence in Practice

Early childhood directors manage through relationships. What You Need to Lead an Early Childhood Program guides a director through the steps to build respectful, dynamic, and welcoming relationships with families and staff. This important book covers all traditional early childhood administration topics, from financial management to marketing and development, while also recognizing and exploring the human side of management and the critical role of emotional intelligence in effective leadership.

“By connecting emotional intelligence to leadership, Holly fills a void that exists in the field. Her case studies and real life scenarios allow the reader to relate to and solve everyday problems in a manner that supports how early childhood practitioners think, feel, and practice.” ―Sue Offutt, Executive Director, McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership “Holly Elissa Bruno comes alive in every page. As a nationally recognized speaker on challenging topics, Holly brings a fresh perspective on the strategies and practices that emerging and seasoned organizational leaders seek. With her unique style and voice, Holly clearly sets a framework for success and quality. All leaders will find Holly’s approaches applicable and refreshing.” ―Luis A. Hernandez, Early Childhood Education Specialist, TTAS/Western Kentucky University “Both the novice leader of a small group and the seasoned director will find this book to be useful and provocative. Inspiring and practical, this book is a must-read for anyone with the heart and courage to lead.” ― Valora Washington, CEO, Council for Professional Recognition

Holly Elissa Bruno, MA, JD, attorney and keynote speaker, hosts the online radio program Heart to Heart Conversations on Leadership: Your Guide to Making a Difference on bamradionetwork.com. She teaches graduate leadership and law courses at Wheelock College and National Louis University’s McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership. Having served as assistant attorney general for the state of Maine, assistant dean at the University of Maine School of Law, and dean of faculty and associate professor at University of Maine–Augusta (UMA), she was named UMA’s Outstanding Professor. Holly Elissa’s keynotes engage and inspire audiences from Reykjavik, Iceland, to Budapest, Hungary, and from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Anchorage, Miami, Chicago, Austin, San Diego, Tulsa, and Spearfish, South Dakota. She believes early childhood leadership is one of the most powerful positions anyone can hold.

Effective leaders are forever learning, both about their own strengths and challenges and about what makes relationships work. Not every lesson we learn is neat or pretty; supervising resistant staff members can put us face-to-face with our own blind spots. We may not be able to help every child with special needs or prevent our budget from being cut to the bone. We can, however, choose our own attitude, whatever comes our way. In early childhood, we lead through relationships. We touch other people deeply, just as they touch us. Building healthy, happy relationships is both an art and a science.