Leadership in early childhood education is seen as a complex, varied and contextual topic and there is no definitive way to describe and explain leadership because there is so much diversity in ECE. Studies explain that quality leadership in early childhood settings is critical to children's learning and is linked to better and consistent outcomes for children. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Leadership and management in early childhood education is a subtle and dynamic phenomenon and is deeply rooted in values, knowledge, understanding, experience and context. Early childhood is a complex field that involves different types of services and managing bodies. Leadership in early childhood is complex, multi-layered, multi-dimensional and holistic. It is difficult to grasp its essence in practice due to the complex needs of children. Likewise, staff and families have different expectations, compliant with policies, resilient to ongoing reforms. Effective leaders know when to use professional judgment, when to support, when to push, and when to give others opportunities to lead. They help move individuals, the group and the organization forward by being reflective and sharing what they have learned with others. Effective leadership is linked to: better educational outcomes for children, improved health, social outcomes and wellbeing, shared vision of practices, pedagogy and curriculum, minimal staff turnover. Rodd argues that there must be a collective responsibility to be involved, engaged and act ethically in the best interests of children and their families. Because of the rapidly evolving political environment and the frequency with which decisions are made within early childhood education, leaders must appreciate the complexity of their work environments. Jones and Pound describe collective engagement in the early years as leadership that must be reflective in its performance as distributed leadership. Collaborative ethical and professional practices in quality-leading ECE. Engaging with children, building partnerships with families and the community. According to Weiz-Koves, autocratic leadership is the approach to leadership in which one person makes all decisions and centralizes all power. These leaders impose their will on others and enjoy the privilege of making decisions regardless of the academic qualifications and leadership experience of junior staff. The application of this leadership style does not apply to all situations but works best in a situation where a leader has unique knowledge and expertise in a certain area under consideration. I have found that it is important for early childhood teachers to understand leadership theories. The contingency theory of leadership explains that leadership is situational and to apply the situational leadership approach a leader considers various factors which include the personality of the leader and the composition of the people he leads. Four leadership behaviors are important in situational leadership: telling, selling, participating and delegating. A successful leader will incorporate different techniques for different situations. It can be an authoritative leadership style, coaching and pacing based on the situation. Transformational leadership theory states that in early childhood education, a transformational leader is needed to transform staff members and children. According to this theory, “leaders use their enthusiasm, energy, drive, ethics, and commitment to.