Children's author and illustrator Theodor Seuss Geisel — who wrote under the pen name "Dr. Seuss" — was born on March 2, 1904. Throughout his life, Dr Seuss wrote uplifting books, despite facing hardships, including a prolonged illness and his first wife's suicide. Geisel (Dr Seuss), who died in 1991, didn't have his own children, but saw entertaining young people as his calling. "You have 'em, and I'll entertain 'em," he is remembered to have said. Sounds pretty similar to what we say to our families, right?
So, on Dr Seuss’s birthday, we've been thinking. What can we learn from this legend to support us in our leadership roles?
"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."
"Happy Birthday to You!" - a book by Dr Suess, discusses why we are important and individual, something that we share with the children, and our practitioners. But quite often as leaders we forget ourselves. We are overshadowed by what and who we think we should be, restricted to the requirements of our roles, and we lose our identity, and even question whether this is the right thing for us to do. Leadership identity is your presence in your work—and in the world. This is about your physical and mental presence, your attitude, and your readiness to take on new challenges and make an impact. It's how you “show up” every day and for every interaction.
One of my favourite lines from the book (and I'm not gonna lie, I say this to myself in the mirror sometimes too) is "This bird has a brain. She most beautifully brained. With the brainiest bird brain that's ever been trained." You too are beautifully brained – don't forget it! Self-confidence is an essential part of leadership. A leader with self-confidence thinks positively about the future and is willing to take the risks necessary to achieve their personal and professional goals.
(see blog https://theearlyyearscompany.co.uk/leaders-need-support-too/)
"You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!"
"Oh, the Places You'll Go!" Is a lovely book about choosing your own path. It tells us that we can go anywhere we want to, we choose the streets we go down, and choose not to go down the streets that aren't so good for us. We might not find any streets where we are that we want to go down, so Dr Seuss tells us that we may want to go out of town. “You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose! You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who decides where to go!”
I Think, Dr Seuss was talking to us leaders when he wrote this. He wanted to remind us that we don’t have to be stuck where we are if we are unhappy, we can choose a different path. That it's us that changes the direction were going, and nobody else. That could mean a step up, sideways, backwards or somewhere else completely! We are all in charge of our own professional journey.
We must be doing pretty well to get where we are today. Our path has taken us here, and if it’s headed somewhere we don’t want to go, well, then we can always just go another way. If there are many “not-so-good roads” then we can think about what we can do to make these road look better! Think about your dream job and what you'd like to be doing in five or 10 years. By mapping out career goals, both short-term and long-term, you can chart a career path toward them.
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
From "The Lorax"
Leadership is only a success when we care. That’s a fact. Regardless of industry. Leaders have to care about the team and the service that they are leading or there's going to be cracks, it's going to fall apart. And if we don’t really care that it's falling apart then it's never going to get better.
Every leader must communicate that they care about their people. But caring is about actions, not just words. The more salient point is that when people feel safe in their work environment, when they feel that it's safe for them to show up and fully be themselves, they're more productive. Caring is therefore very powerful and it is reciprocal in nature. When leaders care about their workers and show it, team members feel this warmth and connection. This ultimately enables them to embrace the goals of their settings, become engaged and actively contribute to the settings outcomes.
(see blog https://theearlyyearscompany.co.uk/empathy-in-early-years-leadership/)
"Don't give up. I believe in you all. A person's a person. No matter how small." From "Horton Hears a Who!"
To be successful, you have to believe in your team and their ability to creatively solve the challenges they face. Team members believe in leaders who believe in them and protect them so they can do their best work. In some ways this is the essence of leadership. You facilitate an environment and conditions for team members to do their best work. And this applies to everyone, those working directly in on the front line as apprentices and practitioners, support staff such as administrators, cooks and cleaners, as well as those colleagues that we work with, or alongside to do the best for the children, such as SLT’s and family support workers. A leader who believes in their team, and can show it, is among the best – a leader who believes in their team, and believes in themselves – the absolute best.
Did you enjoy reading this blog? Why not read another? https://theearlyyearscompany.co.uk/stay-interviews-how-they-can-improve-your-staff-recruitment-and-retention/