Self-Leadership in Social Work: Reflections from Practice

218 Pages·2015·0.927 MB·English

by  Bill McKitterick

SELF-LEADERSHIP
IN SOCIAL WORK
Reflections from practice
Bill McKitterick
SELF-LEADERSHIP IN
SOCIAL WORK
Reflections from practice
Bill McKitterick
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by
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Contents
Acknowledgements v
Introduction vi
one What leadership means in practice in social work 1
two Leadership vacuum 31
three Sources of leadership in the profession 55
four Clarity of purpose in social work practice 73
five The social worker manager as leader, colleague and 93
champion
six Leadership within direct practice 113
seven Leadership within a multi-disciplinary environment 129
eight Optimism, filling the vacuum and taking the lead 149
References 171
Index 197
iii

Acknowledgements
Peter Gilbert’s seminal book Leadership, being effective and remaining
human (2005, Russell House Publishing) remains a rare discourse on
leadership by practitioners rather than being the exclusive domain
of managers. In particular his analysis of its essential aspects and the
etymology of the word guided my early thinking. Malcolm Grundy’s
writing about a vacuum of leadership in another field, Leadership and
oversight (2011, Mowbray), and Barbara Kellerman’s The end of leadership
(2012, Harper Collins), a critique of the leadership industry and the
potential authority of ‘followership’, have been illuminating and have
helped identify the current challenges for social work as part of the
wider malaise of the repression of managerialism.
Friends and colleagues in social work have provided both the
inspiration and impetus for this book, just as much as the negative
forces of organisational self-interest and anti-professionalism in human
services. The people I have met and worked with over my time in social
work – children, young people, adults, community groups, families
and carers – have been both an inspiration and an education in what
social work can and should achieve. This is beyond care management,
relentless assessments, an exclusive focus on performance indicators
and passive implementation of ritualised procedures. They have shown
me how social work is about change, the therapeutic imperative and
social justice.
Finally I thank members of my family, Jodie, Jenny, Kerry and James,
who have endured and contributed to my ruminations about social
work and in particular the development of the ideas about leadership
in human services explored in this book.
v
Self-leadership in social work
Introduction
The narrative of this book is an analysis of leadership ideas, considered
alongside the current vacuum in social work leadership. This is linked
to management and administrative support being confused with
professional leadership. Social workers need to recognise themselves
as experts in their field and act as leaders. They therefore need to be
recognised and acknowledged as leaders, a valued part of the collective
and participative leadership of an ambitious profession. Part of the
current shared challenge is social work’s capacity for, and arguably
an embrace of, ambiguity, and a lack of clarity of purpose, unless
prescribed by others. The self-confident assertion and demonstration
of social workers’ specific skills, knowledge and evidence base,
leadership from within rather than from above or outside, are the
most effective challenges to the constraints of a culture of regulation,
legal and regulatory definition and managerialism. Ultimately this
will ensure a creative, skilful and assertive social work service, firmly
rooted in the experience and voices of the people served, rather than
a passive administration of welfare and social care. By asserting a far
more confident clarity of purpose in direct practice, including social
worker managers, working with colleagues and in multi-disciplinary
settings, there can be optimism. This leadership belongs to all, and
will come from within us all – but it requires confidence, respect and
ambition in equal measures.
Leadership is a vital, central, part of being a practising social worker.
While many of the UK national initiatives in social work have been
from government and carried out as ministerial initiatives or by
government-funded bodies, the knowledge, experience and expertise
of what constitutes good and effective practice is a responsibility held
by every social worker. Terms such as ‘competence’ and ‘capability’,
used within government or regulatory guidance, can only reflect the
internal knowledge, evidence base, expertise and values of social work;
they cannot prescribe or restrict them. In making the case for the
ownership of leadership from within social work, I have combined an
analysis of the contemporary challenges with evidence that informs
successful ways forward. The constant changes in the architecture of
the organisations around social work, the births and deaths of the
quangos (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations), and
the power struggles between organisations and titular positions that
vi
Introduction
would make a claim to exercise leadership, have demonstrated that
only social workers as individuals can take responsibility and exercise
leadership, both within their practice and with their colleagues. Social
workers, in whatever role, can articulate and explain how social work
can achieve positive change. This book explores tactics and strategies to
provide leadership, within multi-disciplinary teams, around vulnerable
children, adults and families, as well as leadership within social work
teams and services. In addition, the use of leadership within direct
practice, sharing knowledge, skills, insight and drawing on models of
empowerment, is explored and demonstrated.
I address the questions of why social work leadership is valuable,
what it is, how is it done, and why it is so lacking and undeveloped
in the current literature, policy documents and organisational
behaviour. This is not a traditional book about generic leadership and
management skills. In the current climate of restricted public spending
and uncertainties about the extent and future scale of the welfare state,
the lack of a coherent leadership of the social work profession ‘from
the front’ or ‘from the top’ can be pernicious and destructive. In any
event, this lack of leadership is chillingly unambitious. Positively, its
absence gives each of us the opportunity to take control, to build and
to take authority. My aim is to encourage the current generations of
social workers to exercise leadership in their own practice, within
their service and in their future professional careers, primarily from
within. I argue that the current drivers of social work are outside the
profession or are managerialist in their approach, slavishly following
or second-guessing the current interests of government ministers. I
recall, as a member of a group of directors of social services invited
to advise ministers, being kicked under the table by a colleague when
I pointed out that a potential policy line would be harmful to social
work safeguarding services. I was later told that it was more important
to ‘keep a seat at the ministerial table’ than to tell the truth. It may be
that, in the future, social work empowered and emboldened by success
in self-leadership can combat the current constellation of impenetrable
employer, managerial and government organisational self-interests.
This book includes an overview of the current literature and research
on leadership, centred on public service and closely related professions.
Shared and distinct principles and themes for social work are examined,
alongside ideas drawn from general management and from the wider
social care arena. This is within the narrative of the current changes
vii
Self-leadership in social work
in public services, often termed as ‘reform’ and ‘transformations’,
often forgetting history, failing to make good use of the experience
and evidence held within social workers. The impetus to write this
book arose from my experience in practice, in the leadership of social
work practice and professional development, working in government
intervention teams in services following critical inspections,
contributing to the social work reform programme in England and
in particular, working with social workers early in their careers, with
their managers and educators. The book identifies the responsibilities
and opportunities for building greater confidence, based on a greater
emphasis on evidence-informed practice, through self-leadership and
leadership by all social workers across the services.
The aims of the book are to:
• build the case for confident, skilled, assertive and knowledgeable
self-leadership, from within each social worker;
• challenge the current managerialist agenda in the provision of social
work services that is focused on prescribed process, limited delegated
discretion and low use of evidence-informed practice;
• critically analyse what lies behind this, the barriers to change and
the positive opportunities for transformation;
• provoke reflection and debate, with an emphasis on learning and
developing specific qualities and practice skills;
• explore current theories and models of leadership across a wide
range of settings, the thinking on a contemporary vacuum in
leadership and doubts about the value of leadership education;
• examine the aspirations and impact of the social work reform
programme in England following the deaths of Victoria Climbié
and Peter Connelly, the Munro review of child protection and
the uncertainties about the role of social work in adult social care.
There is currently a substantial and enduring lack of confidence within
the profession. There is a failure of leadership at senior level to create
and support a strong professional identity, firmly bedded in competent
practice. Social work is a purposeful activity to achieve positive change,
the ‘therapeutic imperative’, and social justice, as opposed to the passive
administration of social care and welfare. The central thesis of the
book is the importance of establishing leadership from within social
work itself, based on practice skills and knowledge, as opposed to the
viii
Introduction
managerialist agenda of prescribed process and central direction. The
focus is on a reflective analysis of leadership in social work, a practical
exploration of the development of leadership skills and styles, firmly
based in current social work practice across different service areas.
Setting the scene and making the case for the reclamation of
professionalism and ownership of leadership requires an analysis of
the challenges faced, the forces behind them and the evidence that
informs successful ways forward. The book aims to show how the
effectiveness and value of social work can be fulfilled through the
development and use of knowledge, evidence, practice skills and
professional development. It looks at how social workers, in whatever
role, can articulate and explain how social work can make a difference
and achieve positive change. It is important to identify the tactics
and strategies to provide leadership, individually, within teams and in
senior positions.
Can social work and social workers engage and re-engage in
collective action to challenge social injustice, including poor or
ineffectual services? Can each social worker take or re-take collegiate
control of the organisations that claim to represent them, or prescribe
how they practise and what they do? These are not questions of
individuals in high-profile positions making headline statements;
rather, it is the combined activities and thinking of individual social
workers, building alternative solutions and clearly articulating what
makes services good and effective. This should be both as individual
professionals, and collectively, as members of a profession, not driven
by ever-increasing guidance, regulation or government intervention.
The leadership skills and approaches required for social work practice
are explored. These are integrated with suggestions on the contribution
of social work to progressive continuing professional development,
drawing on contemporary social work practice skills, research
knowledge and the service and public policy context. Consideration
is given to how positional leaders, such as supervisors, academic
researchers, inspirational figures and senior managers, can be used to
develop and promote practice skills and reflective and creative practice.
Supporting the development of capabilities in leadership requires the
identification of what forms of leadership best suit the individual and
the circumstances.
The emphasis is on the particular knowledge and approaches that all
social workers can and must successfully use. These are to be exercised
ix