Schools of Excellence: The No. 1 ECE & Private School Leadership Podcast

​We all have limits to what we can tolerate… and what we can't.

Once, I was working with a director who went into a tailspin if the grapes at snack time weren't sliced. Whenever she saw that a staff member had forgotten to slice them, she would react with panic and anger. 

While un-sliced grapes may not bother everyone to such a degree, they pushed this director to her limits.

Whether it's fruit that's not cut or showing up late to meetings, everyone has different limits and triggers, and it's important to be aware of what they are—not just for your own sake but for the sake of your team and center.

Your triggers can cause you to react harshly out of the blue, pushing your team and staff into a state of hypervigilance. And once they've entered that state, they're more likely to make mistakes with the important tasks you delegate. 

This can lead you to think they're not fit for the role when, in reality, they just might need more patience and guidance to be successful.

So, how do you know when it's really time to fire someone?

This week's podcast episode is the final in a three-part series exploring the Delegation Dip and how you as a leader can respond—rather than react—to this phenomenon. This week, I'm talking about how your triggers may be causing you to fire quality team members too early and what you can do about it.

Join me for a conversation about:

• How the "hire slow, fire fast" paradigm lacks the nuance of reality
• Understanding the triggers that may cause you to overreact to performance
• How to know if you're firing too quickly
• The difference between standards and expectations

It's tempting to want to look at firing in a black-and-white way. But the reality is far less simple. Deciding when to retain a team member (or when to let them go) requires that you lead with discernment—a skill that you'll continue to build as you grow in your leadership.

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

Discernment is just one of the skills we work on in the Schools of Excellence Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs. If you're looking to gain access to tools, resources, community, and coaching that will help you take your leadership to the next level, I encourage you to apply today.

As a member, you'll also be able to take advantage of our new partnership with BetterHelp, the world's largest online counseling provider. We've partnered with BetterHelp because we value the mental health and emotional wellbeing of our leaders. So, together we're giving our members (plus their leadership teams and staff) one FREE month of counseling, as well as 15% off for all future sessions.

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

What if I told you that training a new team member wasn't much different from coaching an Olympian?

Bear with me for a second.

When you coach your son's Little League baseball team, you're likely giving him and all his teammates one of their first introductions to the sport. That means you have to teach them every aspect of the game—from their batting technique to how to lose gracefully.

That's going to be very different from the experience of a coach who's training an Olympian, someone who's already the best of the best at what they do.

And yet… Olympians still need to be coached.

The difference between coaching Little League and coaching Olympians (aside from the obvious age and size difference) lies in what the athletes need to be coached on.

The same can be said within the context of your center. 

Do you see where I'm going with this? If not, keep reading.

Of course, every school leader wants to hire an "Olympian"—the team member who can hold their own and exceed expectations.

But hiring a top-notch employee doesn't mean that person doesn't need any training at all. In fact, falling into the trap of thinking you can leave them to their own devices is an example of neglect, and it happens all too often.

This week's podcast episode is the second in a three-part series exploring the Delegation Dip and how you as a leader can respond—rather than react—to this phenomenon. This week, I'm talking about neglect, which is the sneakiest reaction to the Delegation Dip.

Join me for a conversation about:

• What neglect is and why it happens
• The signs of neglect and how it develops over time
• Its effect on relationships in the workplace
• How to course correct once you've identified it

To be successful, every team member—whether closer to the Olympian or Little League end of the spectrum—needs loving guidance and support, no matter how capable they are. As a leader, it's up to you to ensure that no one gets left behind.

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

 At Schools of Excellence we're committed to supporting the mental health and emotional wellbeing of our leaders. That's why we've partnered with BetterHelp, the world's largest online counseling provider, to give our members (plus their leadership teams and staff) one FREE month of counseling, as well as 15% off for all future sessions. 

If you aren't currently a member but would like to benefit from our partnership with BetterHelp, you can fill out an application for our Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs. As a member, you'll not only have the chance to invest in your mental health but also gain access to tools, resources, community, and coaching that will support you on your journey to building a school of excellence.

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

Discernment is a topic I address here often, and for good reason: It's a key ingredient to many aspects of strong leadership.

One of the areas in which discernment is especially important is delegation.

Whether at home with your family or at school with your team, there are times to delegate and there are times to maintain ownership of tasks. 

Just as you wouldn't delegate the responsibility of driving your car to your 12-year-old son, you wouldn't delegate a high-level, mission-critical task to someone who's new to the school or their role.

And when you do decide it's appropriate to delegate a task, it's important that you keep in mind what I call the "Delegation Dip."

The Delegation Dip is a 3–6 month period where the one who's newly responsible for a task is still learning the ropes. During this time, no matter how qualified the person may be, they're likely to underperform as they learn how to meet (and exceed) expectations.

It can be extremely difficult for leaders to be patient during the Delegation Dip—usually because they care so deeply about the overall outcome. And that can lead to three different negative behaviors: micromanaging, neglecting, and hiring too soon.

This week's podcast episode is the first in a three-part series exploring the Delegation Dip and how you as a leader can respond—rather than react—to this phenomenon. Today, I'm discussing micromanaging, the first of the three most common negative reactions to the Delegation Dip.

Join me for a conversation about:

• The process of deciding when to delegate
• The Delegation Dip and the three most common ways leaders react to it
• What micromanaging looks like
• How you can avoid micromanaging during the Delegation Dip

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

As excited as I am about this podcast series, I'm really only able to scratch the surface of the Delegation Dip and the role it may be playing in your center. If you want to dive deeper into this and other aspects of leadership, you should apply to join our Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs, where you'll gain access to tools, resources, community, and coaching that will help you build a school of excellence.

In addition, as a member, you'll also have a chance to take advantage of our new partnership with BetterHelp, the world's largest online counseling provider. As part of our commitment to supporting the mental and emotional wellbeing of our leaders, we're working with BetterHelp to give our members (plus their leadership teams and staff) one FREE month of counseling, as well as 15% off for all future sessions.

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

When you go to a restaurant, the quality of the food is critical to whether or not you like the restaurant and want to go back. 

But food isn't the only thing that matters, is it? There are a lot of other aspects of the experience that are just as important, if not more so. The service, atmosphere, and cost are just a few things that come to mind.

Well, the same can be said about early childhood education. 

Just like the food at a restaurant, the children are the highest priority at your school. Their health, safety, and education are at the center of everything you do.

But the parent experience is also absolutely critical to a child's success, which means that they, too, deserve careful attention.

In this week's podcast episode, I'm sitting down with Ron Spreeuwenberg, the Co-Founder & CEO of HiMama, a software company that helps early childhood education centers manage their schools, engage parents, and support their staff.

During the episode, Ron and I chat about why the parent experience is so important to early childhood education centers and what you and your team can be doing to make it more of a priority this year.

Join us for a conversation about:

• The story and values behind HiMama
• Why parent communication and engagement is so critical
• How to better address the concerns of today's parents
• What early childhood education leaders need to be thinking about for 2023

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

 At Schools of Excellence we value the mental health and emotional well being of our leaders. That's why we've partnered with BetterHelp, the world's largest online counseling provider, to give our members (plus their leadership teams and staff) one FREE month of counseling, as well as 15% off for all future sessions. 

If you aren't currently a member but would like to benefit from our partnership with BetterHelp, you can fill out an application for our Owner's Only HQ and Director's Inner Circle membership programs. As a member, you'll not only have the chance to invest in your mental health but also gain access to tools, resources, community, and coaching that will support you on your journey to building a school of excellence.

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

Raising tuition can be a touchy subject for owners. It's something you know you have to do—something you have the right to do—and yet you feel the need to justify it every time.

This was also true for Courtney Greiner, owner of Mini Mos Child Care and Preschool.

In the early years of running her school, Courtney struggled to find a balance between the desire to improve her center and the very real costs of running her business.

After exhausting every other possibility, Courtney finally came to the conclusion that she had to implement a tuition increase. It was the only way to keep the school running at the high standard her community deserved and set goals for future improvements.

At first, she felt beyond guilty. She knew many parents were struggling financially and didn't want to create more of a burden for them.

But eventually, Courtney realized that the parents were getting so much value for the tuition they were paying. Her teachers were incredible, the curriculum was exceptional, and the children were provided with all kinds of additional opportunities for enrichment.

Her center deserved to be well-funded.

In the end, it turned out that Courtney's anxiety was for nothing. After she raised the tuition, she saw that the parents didn't complain about the increase at all. Just as she had recognized the quality of the education her center was providing, so did the parents.

The only real obstacle that entire time was Courtney's own mindset.

In this week's podcast episode, I sit down with Courtney Greiner to talk not only about money mindset, but also the many other takeaways she has gleaned during her 5-year membership in our Owner's Only HQ program.

Join Courtney and I as we chat about:

• The state of her center before joining the membership
• How her personal relationships have changed since becoming a member
• Her journey to shifting her money mindset
• How the culture of her center has evolved
• Why you should bet on yourself and consider joining the membership too

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

 Courtney was hesitant to bet on herself at first, but once she did, she realized that an investment in herself was really an investment in her center. If you're ready to take an important step toward creating your own school of excellence, I invite you to fill out an application for our Owner’s Only HQ and Director’s Inner Circle membership programs.

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

You already know that feedback is an important part of growth. All of us need to be given the chance to view our work critically so we can find the areas that need improvement.

This is especially true of you as a leader. To build a school of excellence, you need to be able to receive honest feedback from trusted members of your team.

But feedback—as its name suggests—is focused on the past. As a result, it often focuses too much on the mistakes that were made, and this understandably causes people to get defensive or shut down.

A different approach is to provide feedforward. In contrast to feedback, feedforward focuses on the future, pointing out opportunities for growth rather than mistakes.

This change in perspective not only reduces feelings of judgment, but also reinforces positive interpersonal relationships that make it easier to break through barriers and progress toward excellence.

In this week's podcast episode, I'm closing out our series on Decoding Your Culture by discussing how to use feedforward to drive growth among you and your team.

Join me for a conversation about:

• The difference between feedback and feedforward
• What feedforward looks like in conversation
• What to keep in mind when giving and receiving feedforward
• How to manage emotions when receiving feedforward
• How to discern from whom you should seek out feedforward

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

 In addition to reaching out to us with your questions and suggestions, you can continue your education and growth by joining our Owner’s Only HQ and Director’s Inner Circle. As a member, you'll gain access to tools, resources, community, and coaching that will help you grow in ways you never imagined.

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

Last week, I talked about drama and the toll it can take on the culture of your center. We started to identify the different symptoms of drama to look out for, including complaining about the small things, gossip, and playing the victim.

Another sign that drama has infiltrated your school culture is inconsistent actions and behaviors among your team. In other words, when someone goes from one extreme behavior to another—extremely forgiving to hyper-critical or exceptionally kind to highly rude.

These inconsistencies are difficult to spot because they require you to pay attention over a long period of time.

What's more, inconsistent actions and behaviors are also one of the most toxic patterns of drama, because they cause your team and staff to become hypervigilant—walking on eggshells in fear of unpredictable treatment and standards.

Without exaggeration, it can destroy your school's culture from the inside out.

So, how do you combat this insidious form of drama? By becoming an emotionally mature leader.

In this week's podcast episode, we'll continue our Decoding Your Culture series by furthering our exploration of the different types of drama and talking about how to combat it through emotionally mature leadership. 

Join me for a conversation about:

• Inconsistent actions and behaviors and what they can look like
• Manipulation and the widespread damage it causes
• Real-life examples of these types of drama in action
• What drama-free, emotionally mature leadership looks like

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

 If you want to achieve the level of emotionally mature leadership described in this episode, you should join our Owner’s Only HQ and Director’s Inner Circle membership programs. These programs are designed to provide you with the tools, resources, community, and coaching you need to grow into the type of leader you've always wanted to be.

As a member, you'll also have the opportunity to attend this year's Summit of Excellence (February 28–March 2),  which centers on building legacy through values-based leadership. The topics we discuss during the event will help you deepen your understanding of how to lead your school to excellence. I hope to see you there! Learn More: https://schoolsofexcellence.com/summit

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

Gossip is a normal part of the human experience—I mean, who doesn't perk up their ears when they hear a juicy piece of information?

We all engage in at least some of the time because it plays an important role in our ability to connect with others. 

But… some individuals gossip significantly more than others. (I'm sure we can all name people in our lives who jump on gossip like hungry wolves devouring their next meal.)

And that craving for gossip is one of the telltale signs of drama, including within your center.

Drama is something you should be paying attention to in your school. It takes up the bandwidth of owners and directors and prevents the growth of a healthy culture.

Where there's drama, there's a misalignment of values. It’s only through shared values that you can build a school of excellence.

So, aside from gossip, what other signs of drama should you be looking out for?

In this week's podcast episode, I begin to explore that question in the second part of our Decoding Your Culture series.

Join me as I talk about:

• Drama and its impact on you as a leader
• Why gossip is one of the single most destructive forces in human relationships
• The compounding nature of complaining about the small things 
• How playing the victim affects the people around you

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

If the stories from today's episode resonate with you, I encourage you to fill out an application to join our Owner’s Only HQ and Director’s Inner Circle membership programs. 

As a member, you'll not only gain access to tools, resources, community, and coaching that can help you improve the culture of your school, but you'll also have the opportunity to attend this year's Summit of Excellence (February 28–March 2), which centers on building legacy through values-based leadership. It's a truly transformational experience you won't want to miss! Learn more: https://schoolsofexcellence.com/summit

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

When I talk about school culture, I'm not talking about Secret Santa gift exchanges, karaoke night, or the pingpong table in the breakroom.

Instead, culture is about the conversation that happens around the ping pong table. It's the set of shared core values and practices that define the day-to-day interactions and decisions in your center.

A healthy culture is essential to building a school of excellence, so keeping a finger on the pulse of your center's culture is something you should prioritize.

But how can you evaluate the state of your current culture if it's not about the gift cards and the pizza parties? How do you actually identify whether your team and staff are united under a set of shared core values and practices?

The best way to determine the health of your culture is by looking at the emotional behaviors happening in your center each and every day—and more specifically—your emotional behaviors.

Where's the focus of your stress? Your frustration? Your anger?

Emotions are data points that help you understand where there's tension and a mismatch of values. With that information in hand, you can evaluate the state of your culture and decide what you can do to pivot in the right direction.

Because starting with you is how you create the ripple effect that will inspire change in everyone else.

In this week's podcast episode, I'm diving into a new series called Decoding Your Culture. In the first episode, I'm looking at what culture is and how to evaluate what's going on in your own center.

Join me for a conversation about:

• What school culture is (and isn't)
• The easiest way to evaluate your center's culture
• How to understand the emotional behaviors involved in your school culture right now
• The importance of staying connected to the people you serve

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

 Culture is going to be a huge topic at this year's Summit of Excellence (February 28–March 2), which centers on building legacy through values-based leadership. If you're interested in diving deeper into culture and how you can create a healthier environment in your center, I encourage you to join us! Learn more here: https://schoolsofexcellence.com/summit

While the event is limited to members, non-members can still attend by filling out an application to join our Owner’s Only HQ and Director’s Inner Circle membership programs today. As a member, you'll also gain access to tools, resources, community, and coaching that will help you build a school of excellence.

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

If you had to be brutally honest with yourself right now, where are you focusing the majority of your attention? 

On yourself? On your family? 

Or are you primarily focusing on your center?

If that's you, you're definitely not alone. Many of the owners and directors I work with have been in your shoes, including Aliyah Johnson-Roberts.

Back in 2020, Aliyah found herself so focused on her center that she was obliging herself to stay at school, even when she wasn't needed. Day after day, she found herself sitting at her desk well past 5pm instead of spending time at home.

It was not only affecting her well-being, but also her family's.

Then, in June of that year, Aliyah decided that enough was enough. She decided to join the Owner’s Only HQ with the hope that it could help her bring more balance into her life.

With the support of fellow owners, Aliyah started to realize that her mindset was at the root of her struggle. She recognized that while she had always looked at her students and staff as her responsibility, that wasn't true of her family. 

Once she came to that realization and learned to shift her mindset, she found the balance she was looking for. It not only improved her and her family's well-being, but also created a healthier school culture and the center’s most profitable year ever.

In this week's podcast episode, I invite you to examine your own mindset as I sit down with Aliyah to talk about her experience in our Schools of Excellence membership program. 

Join Aliyah and I for a conversation about:

• The status of her center before she became a member
• How she shifted the mindset that was keeping her anchored to her desk
• How the community she's found among other members has enriched her life
• The ROI her center has experienced since joining the program
• The goals she has for her center moving forward

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic  

If Aliyah's story resonates with you, I highly encourage you to apply for our Owner’s Only HQ and Director’s Inner Circle membership programs. As a member, you'll not only experience the support of a like-minded community  of members just like Aliyah, but also gain access to tools, resources, and coaching that will help you on your journey to building a school of excellence.

As a member, you'll also be eligible to attend our 2023 Summit of Excellence. This year's members-only event focuses on building legacy through values-based leadership and includes a variety of special activities and experiences that you won't find anywhere else. You won't want to miss it! Learn more here: https://schoolsofexcellence.com/summit

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.