Level Up Your Leadership: Using Coaching and Mentoring to Retain and Grow Staff

Welcome😊🖍️

What if the key to retaining your best teachers and elevating your program’s quality isn’t just about hiring the right people, but about how you support them once they’re on your team?

As a center director, your leadership can do more than manage; it can empower, grow, and elevate your educators through intentional coaching and mentoring.

That leads us to one essential question:
How can I use coaching and mentoring to build a strong, stable team and drive long-term success in my center?

Why are both important when building growth within your teaching staff and retention and quality?

In early childhood education, your staff are your most valuable asset! The quality of your program and its reputation depend on the confidence, consistency, and capabilities of the educators in your classrooms. That’s where coaching and mentoring come into play for your Early childhood program.

Both Are Essential!

Coaching and Mentoring Serve Different Purposes:

• Coaching is about performance: helping staff strengthen specific skills, align with best practices, and meet program standards.

• Mentoring is about development: offering long-term guidance, emotional support, and professional encouragement.

Using both approaches ensures you’re meeting your team where they are, whether they need help with understanding how to implement your program's curriculum or are exploring their future growth within your early childhood program.

Build Confidence and Competence🏗️

• Coaching boosts competence: Staff feel more capable when they receive focused, hands-on guidance.

• Mentoring builds confidence: Staff feel seen, valued, and inspired when someone invests in their growth over time.

When teachers feel both skilled and supported, their engagement and job satisfaction rise⬆️.

Elevate Program Quality📈📈

When staff are continually growing, your entire program grows with them:

• Classrooms run more smoothly

• Teaching practices improve

• Relationships with families strengthen

• Licensing and accreditation standards are met with confidence

Support Retention😁

Turnover is costly, not just financially, but in classroom consistency, parent trust, and child development.
Mentored and coached staff are more likely to stay because:

• They feel invested in

• They see a future in the program

• They’re not left to “figure it out alone”

They Elevate Program Quality🅰️➕

When staff are continually growing🪴, your entire program grows with them:

• Classrooms run more smoothly

• Teaching practices improve

• Relationships with families strengthen

• Licensing and accreditation standards are met with confidence

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, a staff member may not grow, engage, or align with the program’s vision. Letting go is also a part of leadership, and it should be done with professionalism, reflection, and care. Ultimately, we must decide to let them go.

As a center leader, your most significant impact comes not from doing more yourself, but from helping others grow. By intentionally utilizing both coaching and mentoring, you foster a culture where teachers feel capable, valued, and inspired to stay and thrive. These strategies not only strengthen individual educators but also enhance the quality and stability of your entire program. When your staff develops, your center flourishes. That is what lasting leadership looks like.

Till Next Time,

Jen Sprafka📋

P.S. How did you like this topic🤔?

P.P.S. Next week, we’ll dive into practical examples of coaching and mentoring strategies you can use during classroom observations and professional development planning! Invite a friend!