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Social Work Leadership - What Is a Leader? Are You One? Can You Become One?

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by Elizabeth J. Clark, Ph.D., MSW, MPH, and Becky S. Corbett, MSW, ACSW

Note: This column on social work leadership is a new feature written by two established social work leaders. Dr. Elizabeth Clark was CEO of the National Association of Social Workers from 2001-2013. She currently is the President of the Start Smart Career Center. Becky Corbett served as the COO of NASW from 2008 to 2013. She is now the President of BSCorbett Consulting and is a national speaker, trainer, and executive coach.

    Future columns on social work leadership will cover the practicalities of leadership, such as comparing needed management and leadership skills, leadership styles and competencies, establishing your own professional brand, and finding a mentor. We hope you will stay tuned.   

     You may remember that old childhood game of “follow the leader.” The leader was the first person in line, the one the rest of the children followed. It always seemed like a privilege or perk to be the leader. The teacher or the other students chose you. You were important.

    Throughout adolescence and college, different types of leaders emerged—the team captain, the class president, the head of the student council. These individuals also enjoyed a certain honor, but what made them leaders?

    The literature is filled with various concepts and definitions of the term leader and styles of leadership. We talk about born leaders, transformational leaders, transactional leaders, exceptional leaders, and servant leaders, among others. All of these have their place, especially in the business world, but are they as relevant to the profession of social work?

    We believe that social workers have a responsibility to become leaders, because leaders create change. Our stated goal for our profession is to promote positive social change and to work for social justice. To do that, we need to lead change in our organizations, our communities, and our society.

The Leadership Tradition

    Our profession has a history of leadership. You have studied many of them—Jane Addams, Jeanette Rankin, Frances Perkins, Harry Hopkins, Delwin Anderson, Dorothea Dix, Whitney Young, Dorothy Height, and Wilma Mankiller are examples. We also have social workers leading national change today. Among these are Senator Debbie Stabenow; former long-serving Senator Barbara Mikulski; former Congressman Ed Towns; Congresswomen Barbara Lee and Kyrsten Sinema; former Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman; Bernice Harper, who helped establish the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa; Jared Bernstein, who served as economic advisor to Vice President Joe Biden; and Leymah Gbowee, who is the second social worker to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (Jane Addams was the first). Equally important are social workers in organizations and associations across the country and around the globe who are working to make a better world, a more hospitable society.

    You are probably thinking that the list above is exceptional, that it is a list of great leaders, and that they are bigger-than-life leaders. We would agree, but most of them started their social work careers in jobs just like yours. Dorothy Height began her career as a caseworker in the New York City welfare system and went on to lead the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years. Senator Mikulski, the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate in her own right, began as a community organizer in inner city Baltimore. Delwin Anderson, who rose to direct social work at the Veterans Administration, the largest program of organized social work in the United States, began his career as a field social worker.

    Also, before you write off the above list as ancient history, keep in mind that Congresswoman Sinema is only 41 years old. Leymah Gbowee is 45. Leadership is not simply a function of age. It is so much more.

You Have Leadership Skills

    Perhaps social work leadership is most closely aligned with the model of transformational leadership, a style in which the leader identifies the needed change, creates the vision for that change, inspires and guides others to work toward that change, and executes the change as a team. If you chose social work as a career, you already possess the desire, the ambition, the vision, and the drive to do great things.

    What else do you need to be a leader? Let's start with the important and fundamental leadership skills social workers acquire during their training. These include:

    In addition, we are trained in many of the practical aspects of leadership, which are applicable across settings:

    These provide an excellent foundation for leadership, and you can build on them and expand your personal capacity to perform in a leadership role.

Developing Your Leadership Competency

    Many experts believe that leadership effectiveness is the single biggest differentiator in a successful career. As a social worker, you graduated with a leadership skill set—better than most other professionals have when they begin their careers—but there is more to learn and experience. It is essential to recognize the difference between leadership and management. They are not necessarily equivalent. You can be a manager without being a leader, and you can be a leader without being in a management role. Noted business author Peter Drucker explained the two concepts in the following way: management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

    Be aware of gaps in your leadership ability and move to fill those gaps. One way to do this is by becoming an expert on leadership—not simply a “book expert,” but an expert based on real life experience, and an expert about your own leadership style and abilities.

Be Leadership-Observant

    When you are around leaders, try to determine what traits and skills they possess. Watch how they relate to subordinates and those with even greater authority. Do they appear trustworthy or visionary? Are they humble or self-centered? Do they bully or inspire? Would you trust them? Would you follow them?

    Then make a list of what you consider the essential traits of a leader. You can easily find 50 or more in the literature (traits like visionary, trustworthy, energetic, decisive, team player, and tenacious come quickly to mind). Once you have identified what you believe are the most important, ask yourself which you already have and which ones you need to enhance. Keep in mind that few people are born leaders; most have to work at developing and perfecting the needed skills.

Take Pride in the Social Work Leadership Heritage

    Too often, as social workers move into leadership roles, they begin to identify themselves in ways that overshadow (almost hide) their social work background. That sends a subtle message that social workers can’t be effective leaders, or that the profession as a whole can’t lead change. That is in direct contrast to the important history of leadership mentioned earlier.

    You may not always have social work in your job title, but it will always be part of your professional persona and training. Let others know you belong to a profession that values leadership and works for positive social change.

Start Leading Today

    Leadership doesn’t depend on a job title, a salary level, or supervising others, and there isn’t some magical moment when you cross a line and finally become a leader. Speaking up, stepping up, and going that extra yard are good beginnings. Being thoughtful, optimistic, and supportive of others goes a long way. Maintaining your integrity and adhering to an ethical code are also essential for becoming a great leader.  

    As a new social worker, you have the ability to make important things happen, to change what needs to be changed, to do good things in this world. Isn’t that why you chose social work in the first place? As social work leader and civil rights advocate Dr. Dorothy I. Height said so beautifully, “We hold in our hands the power to shape not only our own, but the nation’s future.”

    Another good reason to become a social work leader is the fact that the profession of social work is too important to be left to those without a social work background or a clear understanding of our professional values and goals. The profession needs more social work leaders, and we are excited to welcome you to the future generation of that leadership.

Resources

BSC Tips and Techniques: Leading ME

https://bscorbettconsulting.wordpress.com/2017/12/08/bsc-tips-techniques-leading-me/

NASW Foundation Social Work Pioneers program presents biographies of 600 past and present social work leaders who have achieved the Social Work Pioneer designation.

http://www.NASWFoundation.org/pioneers

Using a veteran to rookie approach and hosted by social workers Elizabeth Clark and Elizabeth Hoffler, the Start Smart Career Center offers a free blog site providing tips and advice for new professionals

http://www.startsmartcareercenter.org

Lisa Orrell, author of Millennials Incorporated and Millennials Into Leadership offers a blog resource, online assessments, and coaching.

http://www.theOrrellGroup.com/

Dr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Clark is President of the Start Smart Career Center. She served as the CEO of the National Association of Social Workers from 2001-2013.

Becky S. Corbett served as the COO of NASW from 2008 to 2013. She is now President of BSCorbett Consulting and is a national speaker, trainer, and executive coach.

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