Transformational Leadership in Social Work

In social work, finding a good leader can be difficult.  Social workers, by nature and training, are meant to be understanding and caring people, however, in recent years, being a leader in the social work field requires more than just astute clinical knowledge.  A social work leader must also be business-minded and care about “the bottom line”.  A social work leader must provide clinical supervision while also handling staff accountability and discipline.  This can be a fine line, as good clinical supervision must contain trust and comfort, however, when an employee is behind on paperwork or a problem with performance must be addressed, that trust and comfort can turn into negative tension which ultimately harms the clinical relationship.

One way that appears to be effective is utilizing transformational leadership.  James McGregor Burns introduced the concept of transformational leadership in his 1978 book, "Leadership."  Burns defined transformational leadership as a process where "leaders and their followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation."  In his 1985 book, "Leadership and Performance BeyondExpectations", Bernard M. Bass developed the concept of transformational leadership further.  In this post, you will find ways that I, and my colleague, Neil Harbus, have adapted the concept of transformational leadership to the social work field.

Transformational leadership involves the concepts of Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, and Individual Consideration, which ideally leads to Performance Beyond Expectations.

Idealized influence describes leaders who are exemplary role models, who are trusted and respected by their staff to make good decisions for the Team and the organization.  

It involves transparency in decision making and allowing staff to be a part of the decision making, focusing on their areas of expertise.  Supervisors should model the values of the program/organization in their interactions with staff and clients.  Supervisors can even shadow and observe staff members in their work and role model the reinforcement of program values and ethical decision making.  

Supervisory encounters are aimed at fostering trust, and Inspirational motivation describes leaders who effectively communicate the vision of the Program to their staff. They encourage a Team spirit to work together to reach the Program goals.  

žIt all starts with valuing your staff members of all disciplines and recognizing their strengths, creating meaningful job descriptions, and detailed performance expectations.  Team meetings involve everyone in crafting team goals, and understanding why they were chosen, specifically getting Buy In from the staff regarding overall agency goals and policies.  Team meetings and individual supervision link the achievement of these goals to improved quality of life for the clients served.

Intellectual Stimulation describes leaders where they encourage innovation and creativity through challenging the normal beliefs or views of the group. They promote critical thinking and problem solving to make the Program better.

This includes allowing staff to feel comfortable sharing ideas for new initiatives and improved policies and procedures—asking staff to problem solve program issues and present their findings.  Challenging staff is crucial, and appointing staff as leaders of projects or coaching staff to take their careers to the next level—perhaps becoming supervisors themselves.  Continuing educaton is imperative to intellection stimulation and good transformational leaders should provide on-site, on-line, and community based training for professional enhancement, and encourage conference presentations, special projects, meeting with visitors and speaking engagements

Individual consideration describes leaders who act as coaches and advisors to their staff. Using individual consideration, they encourage staff to reach goals that help both the Team, and the Agency.

To achieve individual consideration, each staff must create a Professional Development Plan with their supervisor.  The supervisor should offer individualized training, including the use of assistive learning devices when needed. Supervisors should act as “Talent Brokers”, utilizing the strengths and talents of staff to enhance the Program

Are You a Transformational Leader?

1. I would never require a staff member to do something that I wouldn't do myself.

2. Staff would say that they know what I stand for.

3. Inspiring others has always come easy to me.

4. Staff have told me that my enthusiasm and positive energy are infectious.

5. Staff would say that I am very attentive to their needs and concerns.

6. Even though I could easily do a task myself, I delegate it to expand my staff’s skills.

7. Team creativity and innovation are the keys to success.

8. I encourage staff to question their most basic way of thinking.

Brittany Freese, MSW, LISW, is an experienced mental health professional and leader in the social work field.  You can learn more on her website.