Nursery and pre-school group Storal recently launched its authentic leadership programme for
managers to share their stories, embrace their whole selves, and learn to lead with integrity
and empathy. Chief executive Sarah Mackenzie explains

What is authentic leadership?

To define authentic leadership, we need to recognise what traditional leadership is. According to Harvard Business School, traditional leadership is leading with goals, leading with a selfish agenda, and leading by imposing power and authority.

On the other hand, authentic leaders strive to create a meaningful relationship with their team; they lead with values and principles; they lead with purpose; and they lead with heart. Our authentic leaders thrive by sharing knowledge and ideas across our community and working together towards a shared goal.

Authentic leadership conference

We kicked-off our mission to create authentic leaders with our two-day Authentic Leadership Conference, where managers from our 30 nurseries gathered to share information, discuss what it means to them to be authentic and how to be more confident in their roles.

Nursery manager Zareena Rashid said: “The Authentic Leadership Conference was a great opportunity to network and discuss the importance of empowering, not just ourselves, but our teams who look up to us as managers and gaining a clear perspective on how we can raise the bar collectively.”

What does the rest of the programme look like?

Following the in-person conference we launched our authentic leadership programme. The programme recognises the Storal pillars that centre everything we do at Storal and equips our leaders from across the group with the skills to succeed within these pillars.

Quality

Through various methods of support and quality assurance, nurseries are held to high standards when it comes to the quality of their setting, including the education that they provide through the Storal curriculum and the relationships they have with both children and parents. For example, one session within the programme looks at how we engage parents in the education of their children outside nursery life.

Our learning approaches are responsive to the differences in every child, and our programme equips leaders with the skills to ensure children learn in a way that is right for them both at nursery and at home.

Team

Nurturing personal development and extending opportunities for learning is a key part of the authentic leadership programme. Our sessions relating to team encourage our inspirational people to explore how to be an effective leader and how our own unique management styles affect the way we lead our teams.

Customer

A good reputation in a nursery’s local community is crucial and building parents as advocates is key. We know that it takes time and consistency to build credible and genuine relationships with parents and so within the programme, we identify how our managers can regularly make improvements to their customer experience through acts of kindness, offering clear and transparent advice around fees and funding, and gaining insight through parent forums.

Commercial

Alongside understanding children and helping their special stories unfold, it’s important that our nursery leadership teams are driving positive commercial performance. Our commercial modules look to combat imposter syndrome around commercial management and highlight the tools our managers have at their disposal to drive performance.

Why are we creating authentic leaders?

We don’t want our leaders just to fit in, we want them to be themselves too and by creating authentic leaders we’re creating a culture where celebrating individuality is encouraged. Our leaders are prepped with the tools they need to cope with change and uncertainty, and they feel empowered to focus on what matters, allowing children’s stories to grow and develop with richness and purpose.

Authentic leadership in the early years sector is about more than just leading; it’s about enabling teams to enhance the quality of care and education we provide for our children but also nurturing a community of empowered, genuine leaders who will inspire and shape the future. Together, we can create a brighter future for our children, our teams and our communities.