Social work: leading by inclusion, not authority

This Special Issue on Leadership in Social Work emerged from a shared realization that, despite the critical role of leadership as both a facilitator of effective professional practice and a demonstration of social work’s commitment to creating fairer and more equitable societies, there is limited evidence regarding its distinct characteristics and impacts. There is also little published to date on how leadership can be best nurtured and supported within the context of social work professional responsibilities and an often-hostile working environment. To respond to such gaps in knowledge and opportunities for learning, this Special Issue was coordinated by an editorial team assembled through the Universitas 21 Social Work Community of Practice. Editors contributed their professional, lived, and/or academic experience and in addition to guiding, promoting, and reviewing for the special issue, jointly crafted this editorial through collective reflection of the special issue content and our discussions together. The editorial team would like to express our gratitude to the extensive network of reviewers who offered informed and constructive feedback to authors and the invaluable support of the BJSW office. Submissions to the Special Issue are based on primary research, conceptual analysis, practitioner reflections, educational delivery, and book reviews which include ‘classic’ leadership texts and those relating to Indigenous leadership and activism by migrant care workers. Articles consider social work leadership in Europe, Middle East, Oceania, Africa, North America, and East Asia, within the context of the public sector, not for profit organizations, academia, health care, and communities. With methodologies ranging from action research, auto-ethnography and workforce surveys, established and emerging theories including transformational, compassionate, activist, ethical, social identity, and eco-leadership, and practice reflections from students, early career practitioners, team managers, formal professional leaders, and social work educators, the edition contains rich and diverse learning for all with an interest in this topic. We are pleased that alongside more established authors, several are contributing to an academic journal for the first time. Drawing together the insights from such an extensive collection of submissions has been a challenging but rewarding process. We have structured our reflection around the theme of inclusion to reflect the common theme within the articles that social work leads through creating connections, demonstrating shared values, and building on diversity rather than by enforcing authority, issuing mandates, or relying on hierarchical power. Often leadership in social work, in common with many sectors, is by default connected with those in senior management roles. Whilst management and leadership are different, their access to resources, setting of organizational priorities, and influence on internal policies can enable those in such roles to make an important contribution to leading the profession. Values based senior leaders can also act as an inspiration and encouragement to others that whilst often challenging, it is possible to lead with integrity and to reflect professional values alongside corporate responsibilities. As one of our authors shares in their reflection, ‘the positive response from my manager and senior leadership has given me a sense of belonging, confidence and motivation to support other Black and Global Majority Social Workers to have their voices heard’. Progressing to senior roles remains challenging though for those who do not fit the traditional ‘old male’ stereotype of organizational management with several articles highlighting the intersectional barriers faced by women, LGBTQ people, and those from Indigenous communities to progressing in a management career. Senior managers are also only part of the picture though, with accounts of leadership within the special issue being demonstrated by those in a multitude of roles, contexts, career stages and within communities. Influence comes in many shapes and sizes and from the examples provided through the Special Issue research and reflections, social workers at all levels are well placed through their skills and values to build inclusive alliances of the willing. One issue which can discourage social workers from leading is a discomfort with taking on the dual identity of a practitioner and a manager, where this requires balancing the expectations of neo-liberal orientated systems with professional values based on ethics, rights, and diversity. Those from marginalized groups can experience this most acutely as they are not only expected to achieve individualized performance metrics but also bring about fundamental change in organizational cultures and practices through challenging existing power dynamics and structures. Authors call for the demands to change placed on minority leaders’ roles to be properly recognized in their workloads to reduce stress and burnout and to avoid ethical dilemmas between authenticity to their communities and progression in their career. The importance of collective responsibility across social work leadership of all backgrounds and roles to address embedded inequalities and discriminations is emphasized throughout. To reflect its centrality, a commitment to inclusive leadership and connected skills should be an integral component within formal recruitment processes. Leadership does not often feature substantially within the content of many social work qualifying programmes, particularly those focused on micro-practices with individuals and families. Workplace leadership learning is more available post-qualifying but often is generic in nature and rarely tailored towards the profession. The importance of social work orientated learning opportunities is underlined within several articles. This will provide greater clarity over the distinct nature and contribution of leadership by the profession and to enable participants to develop a personal and shared understanding of how social work values can be integrated within leadership behaviours. Access to such development should be career long, as with changing contexts, collaborators and challenges so leadership skills must be adapted, extended, and strengthened. Creativity, ethics-based problem solving, peer reflection, AI-based simulation, and experiential engagement with wider systems have merit within such development programmes. Learning from Indigenous and community leadership and leaders with lived experience of social work helps students to build connections and challenge hierarchical and professional orientated beliefs as to the nature of leadership. A strengths-perspective seemed to be a useful foundation for helping social workers to recognize their own assets and those of their teams and networks, and this can be supported through mentoring and reflective practice groups. Whilst the challenges to social work leaders are many, numerous examples within the special issue demonstrate that the profession is able to influence at practice, organizational, and policy levels. Achieving wider reform appears most effective when done collaboratively including wider partnerships to bring in new perspectives and networks and embracing new forms of digital communication to reach diverse audiences and potential allies. Several articles explore the impacts of different approaches to leadership on the workplace conditions experienced by social workers with the importance of leaders fostering greater supportive team cultures and providing space for creative thinking being a common element. The benefits of an explicit commitment to ‘activist’ forms of leadership to legitimize and inform the role of social workers in speaking out against injustices such as racism and climate change is mentioned by several authors. Learning from those who have experience of achieving change in other contexts, including within communities, can provide helpful insights and inspiration and open new opportunities for collaborations. This expansive special issue contains an ‘abundance of ideas’ on how social work leadership can be encouraged, developed, supported, and broadened. Despite many challenges, it underlines that there is a willingness, commitment, and ability to demonstrate inclusive leadership which reflects the values of the profession and in so doing improves the nature of practice, the culture of organizations, and justice and fairness within society. There are aspects which the issue hoped to explore but which are under-represented, such as leading within inter-professional settings, leadership in the era of digital working and AI, and the role of social work in collaborating with leaders with lived experience. One of our editors commented that the latter could reflect an unwillingness of the profession to risk being ‘unsettled’ through challenges from those with direct experience of being marginalized and oppressed—‘if leaders are too comfortable, then they are not doing it right’. There was also little consideration of how social workers can be responsible ‘followers’ who both support and constructively challenge leaders, and the potential for ‘dark leadership’ in which self-centred leaders promote their own interests over the wellbeing of others. These gaps suggest there is much more to learn, and as an editorial team we look forward to future insights, discussions, and debates on the nature of social work leadership and how it can achieve its potential to challenge, inspire, and change.

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