In my 14 years of being a Child Care Business Owner I have discovered this: Your ability to connect with others has a great impact on your Business success.
In fact, as I discovered how to connect with parents…. my relationship with my parents improved.
Also, when I expanded from a home provider to a center, I noticed that my turnover rate was very high. I was informed that childcare centers have high turn over rates. For some reason I could not accept that answer.
Recently, I did some reflection about my past staff turnover rate and I asked one of my long time employees this question: What do you think has impacted my turnover rate?
She said to me: “You are a great boss with high expectations, however, the one complaint that employees have mentioned to me is the fact that you seem to be insensitive to the needs of others. ”
I was so glad, that I humbled myself and received feedback from one of my best employees. In fact, her feedback was so valuable to the success of my center and she was glad I asked.
However, I was not shocked to hear that response, because I knew that it was time for me to work on connecting with my employees and become a better listener.
I shared my experience with you, because it is so common for Employers to be insensitive to their staff and I was one of them.
That feedback, has helped me to move forward knowing the truth and not walking in denial. It’s so easy to blame your staff, however, as a leader; you must first look at yourself.
I strongly believe that everyone is not meant to be on your team, however, it is vital that you continue to grow as a leader so that you can attract and retain great people.
If you are having difficulty building strong relationships with your team or parents, it could be that you simply need to educate yourself on how to connect with others.
It is always my pleasure to share from my journey and I hope that this post has been of great value to you.
In 2008, I bought the book, Winning with people by John Maxwell and that book empowered me to connect with difficult people and to improve my people skills.
Recently, I decided to listen to the book as a refresher, so that I can continue to focus on building healthy relationships as I move forward on my Business Journey.
I want to share the Audio Book: Wining With People With you. (The audio book is below).
(The audio is 2 hours)
I look forward to your feedback!
Shiketa
The Child Care Business Owner Institute 
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