All kinds of leaders

Leaders are often responsible for guiding people and undertaking tasks. Consider the idea of 'leading with managing' being likened to a walk along a complex path, an early childhood professional trail. There are many steps on such a path, with geographic features influencing people and their beliefs. The complexity of this 'leading with managing' path begins with who is taking on what role. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes with different styles. In fact, leaders may work in a variety of early childhood settings, with position descriptions outlining expectations for both strategic competence - or doing - and organisational character - or being. They may have several qualifications plus a myriad of past personal-professional lived experiences. Leaders may hold established, ongoing positions; however, they may also hold or share situational, changeable and occasional roles. There are mixed views about what constitutes leading, managing and administering, and how interrelated or separate they can or ought to be within workplaces. These contested views and slippery definitions have varied over time across children's services. As an example, I now use the phrase 'leading with managing' and the double-words 'leader-manager' and 'leading-managing', which help us focus on role complexity. These terms take into account the interplay and synergy of being a leader, a follower, a manager and an administrator.