Why leadership, not hustle, is what really grows childcare organisations
There’s a question I often ask childcare providers and activity leaders when we’re talking honestly. Not in a meeting. Not on a sales call. Usually in a quieter moment.
I ask, “Do you have a business… or do you have a BUSY-ness?”
Most people smile when they hear it. Then they pause. Then they nod.
Because they know exactly what it means.
Being busy is normal in childcare. In fact, it’s often expected. Early starts, late finishes, constant decisions, endless responsibility. Busy can feel like commitment. Busy can feel like doing the right thing. Busy can even feel like success.
But busy can also quietly become the thing that holds you back.
As Peter Drucker once said, “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
In childcare, many brilliant leaders are doing far too much of the wrong work, simply because the system around them demands it.
Busy doesn’t mean broken, but it does mean stuck
Let’s be clear about something. Providers don’t struggle because they lack passion, vision or care. Most struggle because they care deeply and feel responsible for everything.
They step in because children matter.
They fix problems because families matter.
They cover gaps because staff matter.
Over time, leadership slowly turns into firefighting. Not because anyone chose that path, but because transactional work crept in and took over.
Bookings to chase.
Registers to double-check.
Payments to sort.
Messages to answer.
Reports to submit.
None of this is wrong. All of it is necessary. But when it fills every day, it squeezes out the space leadership needs.
And leadership needs space.
The difference between running and leading
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Work on the business, not in the business.”
In childcare, that advice can feel unrealistic, even frustrating.
When ratios are tight and parents are waiting for answers, it can feel impossible to step back. So leaders stay in survival mode. They keep things moving. They keep things safe. They keep things running.
That is transactional leadership. It keeps the doors open.
But transformational leadership changes how the organisation feels.
Transformational leadership is what builds confident teams, calm environments and sustainable growth. It’s what allows a leader to shape culture instead of constantly reacting to problems.
The challenge is simple and uncomfortable at the same time.
You cannot lead transformationally when you are drowning in transactions.
Leadership is not about control, it’s about presence
Transformational leadership is often misunderstood. It’s not loud. It’s not about authority or big speeches. In childcare, transformational leadership is quiet, steady and deeply human.
It’s how calm a leader remains when things go wrong.
It’s how clear expectations are when staff feel unsure.
It’s how safe people feel to speak up.
As Brené Brown puts it, “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”
That influence only happens when leaders have the emotional capacity to be present. Presence requires clarity. Clarity requires space.
When every decision feels urgent and every task feels critical, leaders lose that presence without even realising it.
This is not a personal failure
If any of this feels familiar, it’s important to say this clearly.
This is not a reflection of poor leadership.
It is a reflection of systems that ask leaders to carry too much.
Many childcare providers are effectively running complex organisations on systems that were never designed to support leadership. Manual processes, scattered information and unclear workflows slowly push leaders into constant reaction mode.
Over time, busy becomes normal. Exhaustion becomes expected. And leadership quietly turns into management.
But it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Strong businesses do not rely on heroics
One of the hardest truths for any leader to accept is this. If everything depends on you, the business is fragile.
That doesn’t mean you’re not important. It means the structure around you is doing too little.
Strong organisations don’t rely on constant heroics. They rely on systems that hold the weight of the day-to-day work, so leaders can focus on direction, people and culture.
As Simon Sinek says, “Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge.”
You cannot take care of people if you are constantly overwhelmed.
Systems are not the enemy of human leadership
Some providers worry that systems make things cold or impersonal. In reality, the right systems do the opposite.
They remove friction.
They reduce repetition.
They create clarity.
And clarity is freeing.
When bookings are clear, leaders stop chasing.
When registers are reliable, staff feel safer.
When information is accessible, confidence grows.
Systems don’t replace leadership. They protect it.
They give leaders back the mental space needed to think, reflect and lead with intention.
Leadership is what children experience
Children don’t read policies. They don’t care how busy the adults are. They feel leadership through the environment around them.
They feel whether routines are predictable.
They feel whether adults are calm.
They feel whether spaces are safe and consistent.
Leadership shows up in how a setting feels at 3.30pm on a busy day. It shows up in how transitions are handled and how mistakes are responded to.
That is why leadership in childcare is not theoretical. It’s lived, minute by minute.
So let’s return to the question
Do you have a business, or do you have a BUSY-ness?
Does your organisation support leadership, or consume it?
Do your systems reduce pressure, or add to it?
Do you spend your time shaping the future, or reacting to the present?
These are not judgement questions. They are reflection questions.
Because real change starts with honesty.
Why All Incompass exists
At All Incompass, we don’t believe childcare leaders need to work harder. They already work incredibly hard.
They need better support.
Our system is designed to reduce the transactional load that pulls leaders away from leadership. By holding bookings, registers, communication and reporting in one place, we give leaders back something invaluable.
Headspace.
That headspace allows leaders to lead calmly, confidently and consistently. It allows teams to feel supported. And it creates environments where children can thrive.
That is what transformational leadership looks like in practice.
A final thought
Being busy is not the same as being effective.
And leadership is not about carrying everything alone.
If your organisation has started to feel like a BUSY-ness rather than a business, that doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you’re ready for something more sustainable.
Better systems.
Better structure.
Better support.
And better leadership.
If you’d like to talk honestly about how things feel in your setting and what support could look like, connect with one of our experts for free consultation advice on running your childcare business:
Andy@allincompass.uk
Trev@allincompass.uk
Matt@allincompass.uk