Case Study Habit 1 Listen To Others With Empathy And Understanding

Habit 1: “Listen to Others with Empathy and Understanding”
In any setting, communication is essential not just from the person providing it but also how the message is perceived. Positive communication means not only listening to what the message is saying but also being able to sense the underlying emotions of other educators (Lunenburg, 2010). Naomi expressed her sincere concern in all of her individual meetings with educators, listening and addressing all staff who had a concern with reasoning and understanding. The staff were encouraged to discuss all matters in detail with Naomi as she was empathetic, allowing her to get a better understanding of each situation.
At the start of each day, Naomi makes it a routine to go to each classroom and converse with all educators and greet the children. She converses with any staff that have concerns regarding the day outline, existing children and/or parent consultations. My observation is that this daily routine builds trust and a solid relationship between the leader and the educators.
Londen (1997) connected beneficial feminine attributes, such as good social
collaboration skills and empathy, to be a highly regarded asset in an early childhood educational setting, as it generates a gentler and more sympathetic work climate (as cited in McCrea & Ehrich, 2000). At Twilight, there is a staff member that has special needs. The staff member had difficulty doing certain tasks involving written work and needed assistance. After a meeting was conducted between Naomi and the educator, I observed that Naomi came to an understanding of the staff member’s limitations and worked with the educator to find strategies to assist them better. Naomi adopted the sensitive leading which is one of the recognised styles Sergiovanni’s (1992) studies shows. This particular style of leading is identifying the positive, energetic collaboration between all participants involved in the centre, which includes educators, management, parents and children. The leader contributes to influence the organisation’s setting into a climate where parents and children can partner with educators in a safe, engaged learning environment. Acknowledging and genuinely looking everyone’s emotions, needs and judgements as a leader highly benefits a setting. It creates inclusiveness within the environment, letting each person feel considered and important (as cited in McCrea & Ehrich, 2000).

Naomi’s partnership with families was present, regardless of culture, reputation or wealth. She listened to families with lower economic background and they sought advice and opinions from Naomi regarding their existing personal matters. Naomi would support them and sort out an adjusted payment plan according to the families’ financial needs. In my personal communication, I found Naomi to be empathetic of others less fortunate as she supported others by donating time, money and assets to charities nearby and in Sri Lanka (Naomi, personal communication, August 16th, 2016).
My observation was that the staff were very comfortable around Naomi as well. An effective leader ensures the stability of everyone in the setting. It is being understanding, showing proper work culture and empathy of sensitive problems of educators. Understanding the aspirations and goals of each educator in order to aid to their desires are an essential element in people resources (McCrea & Ehrich, 1996 as cited in McCrea & Ehrich, 2000).

Habit 2: “Past Experiences and Knowledge”
Naomi’s use of her knowledge and past experiences were distinct in her work. She has based the service policies and practices on past experiences in different work roles that has given her a richer understanding to implement into her centre manager role (Waniganayake, Cheeseman, Fenech, Hadley & Shepherd, 2012). Additionally, her organisational and leadership skills were directed by the National Quality Standards (ACECQA, 2013) and Early Years Learning Framework (DEEWR, 2009) guidelines. Naomi’s observation to the children’s response of cultural relaxing music (Dent, 2010) promoted her to play music in the foyer to create a friendly atmosphere to all families entering the centre. To have a better understanding and approach a difficult situation, Naomi changes her perspective of the topic to approach it mindful of the effects it may have on the particular individual (McCrea, 2015). When change occurs, the importance of transparency, collaboration within a team and research (Heikka, Waniganayake & Hujala, 2013) is essential in adopting the new changes. Trust can be formed when transparency in a structure (Wong, Sumsion & Press, 2012) is present in a setting as it promotes understanding of issues. Past motives, careers and experiences have guided Naomi in realising these assets in her leadership. Naomi mentioned (Naomi, personal communication, August 15th, 2016) that her most valuable tool in leadership is consistently re-evaluating and assessing current practices to increase her quality of knowledge for the service. Critically evaluating the Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) as requested from the Accreditation system (ACECQA, 2013), enables the quality of service to grow as the standard is set higher. To have a broader understanding, research aids to multiple revenues of problem solving. Naomi’s leadership in being able to select appropriate staff for the necessary role promotes the quality of service from the educators within the team. This highlights the knowledge Naomi has attained from past practices. Working with educators and their capabilities is Humphrey’s “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats” (SWOT) analysis where leadership is essential to assign or modify roles and responsibilities to other educators (Waniganayake et al., 2012, p.85).
Section 3: My Leader’s Essence
Distinctive Leader:
Nivala & Hujala (2002) connected that traditionally, educators in the early years setting had certain attributes, beneficial characteristics and valuable traits. Later on, research detailed that successful leadership was attained not solely on an individual’s traits but as a collective group of people, all contributing to the success of the team. Bloom (2000) outlines that people management skills, child development and education procedures are essential to a setting but are not the only skills that a leader should attain. A leader with a practical and gentle approach, realistic goals, a passionate heart driven with many future ideologies, being available to educators and their matters and developing collaborative partnerships with families (as cited in Dunlop, 2008). An observation made detailed that Naomi’s daily communication with educators in the morning demonstrated her empathetic and genuine concern to understand her team (Waniganayake, Morda, Kapsalaskis, 2000). Naomi is a modern distinctive leader in an early childhood setting. She is a motivated, compassionate leader, offering her empathetic and inclusive leadership style to ensure a strong united team of educators (Hard, 2005).
Advocate Leader:
Social justice within a workplace is ensuring equal opportunities are distributed fairly (Wong, 2013), regardless of any disadvantages that may be present within a setting.
Naomi demonstrated that she was an advocate of social justice cases. When she provided support to an educator who mentally disadvantaged, Naomi worked with the educator to set realistic goals and strategies. She also displayed empathy to families who conversed with her regarding personal financial struggles and offered assistance in a payment plan. McCrea (2002) believes a leader should exhibit advocacy for a setting by being open to changes. By Naomi using her leadership role to provide security to children, educators and families (Press, 2012 as cited in Hard, Press & Gibson, 2013), she is able to assist and guide as an advocate for social justice in the early childhood
setting.