Social Worker
Five aspects of leadership
Social work leadership is mostly aligned with transformational leadership. It is a form of leadership whereby the leader recognizes the need for the change, create a vision to ensure the transition, and execute the changes. Therefore, there are five aspects of leadership that one needs to develop within the first year of the practice of social work. They include respect, communication, organization, critical thinking, and patience.
- Respect
According to the value-based leadership theory, respect is among the essential core value for the leadership. Therefore, social work must develop in the area of respect. Besides, respect is one of the prominent themes that is identified in many surveys regarding the qualities of a good leader (Bernthal, Rioux & Wellins, 1999). Meng, Ashkanasy & Hartel (2003) posit that respect is an essential trait for social work. Moreover, It involves respecting collogues as well as the clients that the social work is interacting with. Clients are human beings who need to be treated with respect and dignity. The individuals may be facing personal challenges, thus showing them respect would enhance their self-esteem and have a positive attitude towards. Therefore, respect is an essential aspect of leadership that one needs to develop as a practitioner in social work.
Moreover, behavioral theories of leadership, great leaders are made and not born (Deckard, 2011). Therefore, by the essence of improving on the aspect of respect, it will perfect the leadership qualities of the social workers.
Why choose respect as an area of development
The reason for choosing the respect as an area for the development is because after analyzing the aspects of leadership that one has, respect is among the weaknesses. Therefore, it is essential to work on the weakness to strengthen the leadership competence that social work has. Respect is a vital aspect of leadership for social workers. For one to have effective leadership, he or she needs to earn respect first. An effective leader creates a conducive environment for respect, whereby he is respected and respect people he works with.
The method used for the identification of the aspect
For a social worker to understand his or her weaknesses in the leadership, there are various methods that an individual could use. For the case of analyzing that the social workers need to develop on the respect aspect of leadership, the self-reflection method was used. Self-reflection involves taking time to think about an individual’s attitude-behavior and thoughts. So, after the social work reflecting on the leadership aspect, respect was recognized among the weakness of effective leadership.
- Communication
Communication is essential for social work leadership. Good social workers use verbal and non-verbal communication to create and maintain relationships of mutual trust, acceptance, and respect. Communication is an essential element of leadership for social workers. Daily, social workers communicate with their clients to obtain information, communicate information in addition to making crucial decisions (Nawaz & Khan, 2016). Therefore, without effective communication skills, they could not gather or even convey information efficiently. As a result, it could lead to negative impacts on the clients. According to the trait leadership model, communication skills are essential elements for effective leadership (Sethuram & Suresh, 2014). The model suggests that effective leaders possess traits of excellent communication skills that enable them to carry out their duties efficiently.
Moreover, behavioral theories determine whether a leader is effective or not. The effectiveness is a result of how the leaders behave. For instance, regarding the behavioral leadership model, different styles of leadership exist (Nawaz & Khan, 2016). Autocratic leaders involve the one in which communication is a top-down approach. The leaders communicate information without involving the clients. In social worker, participatory leadership is essential.
The social worker and the client participate in the communication. This is because leaders need to communicate with individuals who facilitate information transfer. They need to convey and gather information from the clients (Wilson & Powell, 2012). It is through participatory leadership that social workers will communicate and make an essential decision since they would have involved the clients in decision making. Participating in communication will help the social workers to understand the clients and, therefore, provide the best solution. For the case of social workers, communication is an essential area for them to develop to be effective leaders.
Why choose communication as an area of development
Communication is pivotal for social workers. Having excellent communication skills is essential for developing leadership skills. Some individuals have excellent communication skills by nature, while others need to develop them. As said earlier, leaders are made. Therefore, it is essential to create communication skills. A social worker would choose to develop since it is a crucial aspect of effective leadership.
Tools used for the identification of the aspect
To identify the area that one needs to develop various tools could be used. A social worker could use SWOT analysis and feedback from other individuals. Therefore, the social worker doing SWOT analysis could come up with the area of leadership that he needs to develop. Moreover, feedback from the friends could assist in understanding the areas that need to improve. For the social worker to choose communication as an aspect of the leadership to be developed, a SWOT analysis was done, and also feedback from other individuals was considered. As a result, developing communication was seen as an opportunity to become an effective leader.
- Organizational
The organization is an aspect of leadership essential for social workers. It involves having excellent skills in organizing activities (Bogdewic, Baxley & Jamison, 1997). According to Mumford, Campion & Morgeson (2007), organizational skills are essential characteristics of effective leadership. Social workers are professionals who need to be organized for effective leadership. This is because they deal with many clients.
Therefore, they need to be organized and be able to prioritize the needs of the clients to manage the cases efficiently. The trait leadership model also suggests that organizational skills are among the characteristics of effective leadership. Social workers leaders need to have organizational skills to deal with the clients effectively. Organizational skills will help social workers to manage time effectively. Disorganization, as well as poor time management, could lead to social work overlooking the need of the clients. Therefore, resulting in the detrimental impacts on the individuals.
Moreover, social workers have many responsibilities and busy schedules. They have duties of managing and guiding many clients. Furthermore, they have tasks of reporting, documentation, collaboration, and billing. All these tasks require them to be organized. Therefore, making organizational skills to be efficient for effective leadership. Social workers will need to have the skills to carry out their duties efficiently. The organizational skills will help to organize themselves and to have an efficient schedule. The schedule will assist them in executing their duties and responsibilities excellently. They will tackle all of their duties. Thus, meeting the needs of their clients. Having a good schedule will establish the procedure in which the activities will be addressed. This will provide sufficient time for each activity. Therefore, tasks will be accomplished efficiently. Therefore, meeting the mission and vision of their organization.
Why choose organizational skills as an area of development
Organizational skills are essential aspects of leadership. They enable the leaders to be organized and have effective leadership (Crowne et al., 2011). Due to the duties and responsibilities of social workers, it is fundamental for them to have the skills. The skills will guarantee effective leadership. It will enable social workers to execute their duties efficiently. The reason why organizational skills are chosen as an area of development is that it is among the weakness of the social worker. Having problems with time management need one to be organized.
Tools used to identify the aspect.
Self-reflection and observation of a leader were used to identify organizational skills as an aspect of the leadership that the social worker would be interested in developing. Self-reflection involved meditating on oneself to identify strength and weaknesses of the leadership (Yip, 2006). As a result, organizational skills was recognized as one of the weaknesses that need to be handled. Through observing a role model in the aspect of leadership, it was observant that the leader had superb organizational skills. The skills were essential to the leader since they enabled him to lead efficiently. Therefore, social workers were interested in developing their leadership skills.
- Critical thinking
Critical thinking is an essential aspect of leadership. It illustrates the capability to analyze the information obtained from unbiased communication and observation. Social workers are professionals who deal will cases. Therefore, there need to investigate each case by gathering information through research, interviews, and observation. Critical thinking skills will enable them to make an informed decision without prejudice. The choice will be best for the clients. Therefore, critical thinking skills are essential since they assist in identifying the needs of the clients and thus come up with the best solution. As a result, it helps clients.
According to the trait leadership model, critical thinking is one of the characteristics of an effective leader. An effecting leader needs to think critically to make an informed decision. As a result, critical thinkers are usually successful. Transformation theory is a type of leadership where leaders identify that there is a need for change. Therefore, they formulate a guide through which the change will be made and execute the change. According to the theory, critical thinkers are leaders who could identify and execute the change. This case applies to social workers. Together with the clients, they identify areas that need to change and implement the changes. Therefore, critical thinking skills are essential skills that social workers need to develop.
Why choose critical thinking as an area of development
Critical thinking is an essential element of effective leadership. The aspect was chosen. As a result, it is one of the opportunities in social work practice. Critical leaders are effective leaders. Therefore, developing in the area is crucial for the social worker.
Tools used to identify the aspect.
A SWOT analysis was used to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the social worker. Critical thinking skills were identified as an opportunity for the social worker. Consequently, the social worker was interested in developing on the aspect.
- Patience
Social workers meet an array of circumstances as well as individuals in their job (Talaimanu, 2006). As a result, it is essential to have the patience to deal with sophisticated cases and clients who require a longer time to make progress. Patience enables the social workers to the situation of the clients and prevents making a rash decision (Haque, Liu & TitiAmayah, 2017). Patience also avoids frustrating the clients, which could lead to negative results to the clients. Therefore, patience is an essential element in leadership that enable social workers to tolerate clients.
Why choose patience as an area of development
The reason why patience was chosen as an area of development was that it was among the strongest of the social worker—the social to develop on the aspect to increase the leadership competency.
Tools used to identify the aspect.
Self-reflection tools were used to assess the strength that the social worker has. Therefore, patience was one of the strengths, and the social worker was interested in developing it.
12 months leadership development plan
| Development Areas | Goals | Strategies for achieving the goals |
| 1. Respect
| 1. Treat every client compassionately and respectfully, considering their differences, ethnicity diversity, and cultural norms within 12 months. -This will assist in ensuring development on the aspect of the leadership. Since respect is an essential aspect of leadership, it will help in improving the leadership skills of a social worker | Supervision and seeking feedback–it involves supervising clients. Through it, the social worker will able to achieve the goal of treating clients with dignity. Seeking feedback will analyze whether the goal is achieved. |
| 2. Communication | 2. Become a good listener within 4 months. -This goal will aim at ensuring that a social worker listens to the clients efficiently. Therefore, he will be in a position to make an informed decision and communicate efficiently.
| Presentations- the client could be given tasks to present while the social worker listens to them carefully. This will assist in becoming a good listener |
| 3. Organization
| 3. To have a realistic schedule for every ay task within six months. -A realistic schedule will help in ensuring that each activity for the day has been allocated time. Therefore, following the plan will make the social worker to be organized. A realistic schedule will be achievable. | Training/workshop–training will be essential to educating the social work on how to have a realistic schedule for daily tasks. |
| 4. Critical Thinking | 4. To develop an awareness of thinking and problem-solving procedures within 8 months. -This will enable the social worker to develop critical thinking skills | Self-reflect- self-reflection will allow the social worker to meditate on how he thinks. As a result, he develops awareness of his thinking and problem-solving techniques |
| 5. Patience | 5. To control emotions within 6 months -Being able to control emotions will be essential. It will enable the social worker to tolerate all the clients and understand them clearly. | Mentoring –through mentoring the clients, the social worker will gain patience. He will deal with different clients with complex cases to develop patience. |
References
Bernthal, P. R., Rioux, S. M., & Wellins, R. S. (1999). The leadership forecast: A benchmarking study. Pittsburgh, PA: Development Dimensions International.
Bogdewic, S. P., Baxley, E. G., & Jamison, P. K. (1997). Leadership and Organizational Skills. Fam Med, 29(4), 262-5.
Brown, K., & Rutter, L. (2008). Critical thinking for social work. SAGE.
Crowne, K. A., Phatak, A. V., Salunkhe, U., & Shivarajan, S. (2011). Exploring intelligence, organizational skills, and leadership in Mumbai, India. International Journal of Business, Humanities, and Technology, 1(2), 44-51.
Deckard, G. J. (2011). Trait and behavioral theories of leadership. Organizational Behavior in Health Care, 177-189.
Haque, M. D., Liu, L., & TitiAmayah, A. (2017). The role of patience as a decision-making heuristic in leadership. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal.
Meng, Y. K., Ashkanasy, N. M., & Härtel, C. E. (2003). The effects of Australian tall poppy attitudes on American value-based leadership theory. International Journal of Value-Based Management, 16(1), 53-65.
Mumford, T. V., Campion, M. A., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007). The leadership skills strataplex: Leadership skill requirements across organizational levels. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(2), 154-166.
Nawaz, Z. A. K. D. A., & Khan_, Ph.D., I. (2016). Leadership theories and styles: A literature review. Leadership, 16(1), 1-7.
Sethuraman, K., & Suresh, J. (2014). Effective leadership styles. International Business Research, 7(9), p165.
Talaimanu, F. U. W. J. (2006). Youth social work enhanced by fa’asamoa imperatives: Patience, humility, and balance. Social Work Review, 18(1), 42.
Wilson, C., & Powell, M. (2012). A guide to interviewing children: Essential skills for counselors, police lawyers, and social workers. Routledge.
Yip, K. S. (2006). Self-reflection in reflective practice: A note of caution. British Journal of Social Work, 36(5), 777-788.