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.

The Cost of Being a Social Worker

Frances Mortenson, Teri Zenner, Lara Sobel, Brenda Yeager, Charles Keith Springle, Stephanie Moulton

These are all social workers who have been nearly murdered or successfully murdered on the job by their clients.  Most recently, the media has presented Lara Sobel’s death on August 7, 2015.  She was killed by a disgruntled client outside of her office.  Although this murder has gotten some recent attention, the media presence of most violent acts against social workers are typically miniscule.  

Social work is one of riskiest, low paying jobs that gets little-to-no recognition.  Social workers go into the homes  of people who may be psychiatrically unstable, members of gangs, sex offenders, or even people who have previously been convicted of murder.  Most social workers believe (rightfully so) that most of their clients are inherently good and have made or are trying to make positive changes in their lives, however, there is still risk to visiting these homes, as well as meeting in small, private offices alone with them.

In general, people are unpredictable.  Throw any of the above factors into the equation, and you’ve got someone whose behaviors can follow any path.

So, what is the value that society has placed on social workers?  How much are we worth?  How much are we compensated for the increased risks we take every day?  The median salary for social workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is $44,200 per year.  Honestly, as a supervisor of non-profit programs for the past 5 years, I can tell you that this is actually on the higher side of salaries that employees in this field make.  Some social workers make less than $30,000 per year!  When I first started my career in mental health in 2008, I was paid $2,000 above the poverty level.  Most social workers and mental health professionals will continue to risk their safety despite the salary because they believe in the work they do with their clients.  So, if professionals will sacrifice a low salary in order to help people, what else will we, as a society, do for them to stay safe?

Firstly, we need to determine what can be done to decrease the risks involved.  In March 2009, the Teri Zenner Social Worker Safety Act was introduced to Congress.  The act would “authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, to award grants to states to provide safety measures to social workers and other professionals working with violent, drug-using, or other at-risk populations. Authorize such grants to be used to provide or support: (1) the procurement and installation of safety equipment, including communications systems to assist agencies in locating staff, and technical assistance and training for safety communications; (2) training exercises for self-defense and crisis management; (3) facility safety improvements; (4) provision of pepper spray for self-defense; (5) training in cultural competency and on strategies for de-escalating a situation that could turn volatile; (6) training to help workers who work with mentally ill communities and who need help coping; and (7) educational resources and materials to train staff on safety and awareness measures. Direct the Secretary to establish guidelines for assuring the cost-effectiveness and quality of the safety measures funded.”  Although well-intentioned, the bill was never voted on and died in Congress by 2010.

There have also been suggestions of passing laws to make violent acts against social workers an automatic felony—giving harsher punishment may make clients think harder about their actions.

Until legislation is passed, there are other important factors to the safety of social workers.  From experience, I can say the most effective and imperative safety precaution is SUPERVISORY SUPPORT.  I’m amazed at how few supervisors support their staff members, even if they do most of their work in the community.  A staff member should be fully informed of a client’s history and most recent mental status prior to being asked to see them.  This includes if the client has a criminal history, history of sexual assault or abuse, history of dealing drugs, etc.  A staff member should always have the right to refuse to see a client if they are uncomfortable—and no staff member should ever be formally or informally penalized for not seeing a client who makes them uncomfortable.  Additionally, supervisors have the responsibility to train their staff on safety precautions, including assessment of environmental factors (What’s the neighborhood like?  Does the social worker know the exact address of the visit?  Have there been any recent events in the neighborhood that may increase risk, such as homicides, robberies, etc.?), use of mobile phones (Making sure they are fully charged and working before going into the community), and safety measures to take when in the client’s home.

Supervisors also have the responsibility of pointing out to a staff member when they may be in danger and/or minimizing the actual risk of situations.  I have, on many occasions, reminded staff members in my clinical supervisions with them of situations which may pose risks—a client whose partner is abusing them, a client who has been engaging in sex work in their home, a client who always has a group of people in their home—and I recommend that they assess the situation prior to home visits and/or arrange to meet the client elsewhere in the community.  Sometimes staff members will say, “It’s fine.  I know my client” or “I can handle it.”  It is important to allow them to make their own decisions, but a supervisor should always present the costs and potential risks involved in going forward with the visit.  Explaining that it is not a matter of not knowing the client or not being able to handle stressful situations—it’s about safety.  And safety for clients and staff is the number one priority in this field.

What do you think a social worker’s value is?  What have your experiences been like as a social worker?  Leave a comment below.

What's the Deal with Online Therapy?

Online counseling or “web therapy” is an emerging practice in the world of social services.  Although online counseling is not a substitute for traditional psychotherapy, it has many benefits, including flexibility, anonymity, comfort, and convenience.  Perhaps you are nervous about going to therapy—with online counseling you can test it out for as little or as long as you’d like in many different modalities.  Many services are offering “Skype” or video counseling using secure software, or voice phone calls directly with a therapist, or even text message/email therapy that is not offered in “real time”—giving you and the therapist both a chance to respond when most convenient for you.  Whichever modality you choose, the world of online counseling can introduce you to therapy in a non-invasive, comfortable manner at your own pace. 

Online counseling is not appropriate for everyone.  Online counseling likely does not include prescribing medications, which can be essential to the recovery of severe mental illnesses.  It is also not appropriate for anyone who is currently suicidal or homicidal (if this is the case, you should immediately call 911) or anyone who is currently experiencing psychotic symptoms.  Anyone who needs intensive support or hospitalization is not a good fit for online counseling, as it is an additional support not a replacement for intensive treatment.  Additionally, online counseling makes it difficult to interpret voice tone, body language, and other forms of non-verbal communication that are part of traditional therapy methods.

Although online counseling is not appropriate for everyone and some professionals are still skeptical about it, there are studies which show that online counseling is just as effective as face-to-face in person therapy with a better attendance rate. 

The Journal of Affective Disorders, 2013, reported a University of Zurich study divided a group of 62 patients in half and found that depression was eased in 53 percent of those given online therapy, compared to 50 percent who had in-person counseling. Three months after completing the study, 57 percent of online patients showed no signs of depression compared to 42 percent with conventional therapy.

In an April 2012 edition of Psychiatric Services, it was reported that in a four-year Johns Hopkins study that included close to 100,000 veterans, the number of days that patients were hospitalized dropped by 25 percent if they chose online counseling. This is slightly higher than the number of hospital visits experienced by patients who used face-to-face counseling.

Lastly, according to the American Psychiatric Association (2007), patients in Ontario, Canada were assigned to face-to-face or live video counseling and experienced statistically the same clinical outcome and level of patient satisfaction. The only difference was that the cost of providing the online service was 10% less per patient.

Overall, online counseling permits the client to access therapy when convenient for them without leaving the comfort of their home.  A type of counseling that can reach more people in need is necessary and important!

Author: Brittany Freese, MSW, LISW

Brittany is an established mental health professional and graduate of New York University’s Silver School of Social Work.  You can access her services here.