You have your "Compass" (Mission) and your "Mountain Peak" (Vision). You even have your roadmap set with SMARTIE goals. But do your staff know how to behave on the journey when you aren't in the room? In this episode of Elevating ECE, we tackle the final piece of your strategic foundation: Core Values.

Many Early Childhood Education leaders treat core values as generic words stenciled on a breakroom wall; words like "Integrity" or "Excellence." But without behavioral definitions, these words are empty. Today, we explain how to reverse-engineer your culture from your Vision and SMARTIE goals to create non-negotiable behaviors that drive equity, retention, and quality.

In this episode, you will learn:

• The "Will" vs. The "Way" vs. The "How": Understanding how Core Values fit into the neuroscience of leadership alongside your Mission and Vision.
• Behavior Over Buzzwords: Why effective values must describe actions (e.g., "We share power") rather than abstract nouns (e.g., "Inclusion").
• The SMARTIE Connection: How to ensure your values explicitly support the Inclusion and Equity components of your goals, preventing them from becoming mere tokenism.
• Reverse-Engineering Culture: A step-by-step method to extract your values directly from your audacious 5-year vision.
• The "Litmus Test" for Values: How to use your values to hire, fire, and navigate the "daily fires" of ECE without losing your soul.
Why This Matters for ECE: Research shows that clear goals and values improve work performance by 20-25%. By defining exactly how your team interacts with families and each other, you reduce decision fatigue and build a sustainable culture that survives staff turnover.

Resources Mentioned:
• Free Download: Core Values Alignment AI Prompt-
• Reference: SMARTIE Goals Worksheet (The Management Center)