The director of the ELCC I work for has 20 years of on floor experience and 10 years of management experience. When I initially began the position, I was frustrated with the lack of growth and invitation at the centre. Equally frustrating was the lack of up-to-date knowledge on current best practices. From day to day, the director's attitude was hot and cold. If it was a good day, we could have a discussion about our current needs on the floor. If it was a bad day, we could expect micromanaging and definitive "no"s to anything asked. The centre was doing okay despite this because she has strong human relation skills when it comes to parents, city officials, licensing, etc. She has the art of schmooze down to a science. She knows a "guy" for everything that needs to be done. She also does well with the technical behind the scenes skills you'd have to know to operate a ELCC. Unfortunately, she had little conceptual skills for many years. Where other childcare centres had expanded years ago to include multiple sites, our centre was stuck with one site. When other centres were streamlining and digitizing their scheduling, pay stubs, and timesheets, we had numerous papers and places for forms needing to be then inputted into systems. We were not thriving. After a number of years, there was a push for change from a new assistant director who had more focus on conceptual skills and an awakened team of educators who were looking for change. My director began to learn, grow, a