Social Work Leadership
After reading the assigned resources about leadership types and skills, as well as information about attending to tasks and relationships, you may be starting to develop ideas about how an administrator’s leadership style and philosophy can either facilitate or limit social change efforts. The way in which social work administrators interact with diverse stakeholders such as clients, staff, board members, and community members, contributes to a model of service delivery that emphasizes quality and effectiveness.
Post how a social work administrator’s personal leadership philosophy and style may influence a human services organization’s culture. Also, explain how the organization’s culture might influence a social work administrator’s personal leadership style. Finally, explain how interactions with stakeholders may ultimately impact the organization’s treatment of clients. Be sure to provide specific examples in your explanations.
Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.
Administrator’s Leadership Philosophy and Style
According to Northouse (2018) , Theory Y leadership philosophy entails the following three characteristics: 1. People like work 2. People are self-motivated 3. People accept and seek responsibility. An administrator with this style will more likely have people who are willing to work towards common goals and fulfill the agency’s mission and vision. Theory X entails these three characteristics: 1. People dislike work 2. People need to be directed and controlled 3. People want security, not responsibility. This would mean that people have only one goal to work which is to be paid. In the field of social work, it is uncommon for the work to be for the paycheck. Using this type of philosophy would not be effective for a social work administrator. If Theory X is used, there may be a culture that the administrator does not care about the people and does not allow for the people to fulfill the needs of the clients. The leadership style that accompanies Theory X is authoritarian style. In this style, it is more like a dictatorship culture. If Theory Y was used, there would be a culture of respect and openness regarding ideas for the future. The democratic leadership style accompanies the Theory Y philosophy. A democratic leadership style allows the people to have influence of decisions within the agency. This creates a culture for new ideas and respect (Northouse, 2018).
Regarding influence on the leadership style, an event would need to occur that would cause the administrator to switch styles. An example would be if the agency is not following policies, mission and/or vision of the agency. In this event, the administrator would need to change from a democratic style to an authoritarian style in order to get some control within the agency. This would not be effective long term however would be effective in gaining control of the agency.
Regarding stakeholders, it would be effective to utilize the relationship-oriented leadership in order to build positive relationships between your organization and stakeholders. If an administrator builds positive relationships with stakeholders, this can affect other services that could be implemented, aftercare programs to utilize after the organization has completed its service, etc. The relationship and administrator has with stakeholders is key in building resources for your clients. If an administrator has an authoritative leadership and demands rather than collaborates with stakeholders, this could negatively impact community resources for your clients (Northouse, 2018).
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Sage.
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