Course Code

Description Social Welfare Agency

Administration

Pre-Requisites

Department: Week 12

General Functions of an Administrator 3 Module No. 10

Leadership and Management Style

Leadership may be defined as both a position and an ability. As a position, it means that a person is
responsible for the control of a certain situations and is in directing or guiding position. Leadership
ability refers to the capacity or skill to influence relationship with others so that they will follow the path
taken by the leader. Leadership involves the ability to being about a desired change or action from or
with others. It implies a kind of movement that involves others to follow in their thinking, feeling, or
actions. A leader encourages people to act to benefit themselves and others.

The need for creative leadership is paramount in social work today, although it has always been
important.

Why Be A Social Work Leader?

Various attempts have been made to ascertain why many social workers gravitate to administrative
position in social service agencies. The following factors appear to be significant:
a. Prestige and status. All people hunger for recognition and importance. Being an administrator or
executive in a social service agency or a school of social work offers this kind of fulfillment.
b. Higher salaries. Although there are exceptions, administrators are usually paid more than
caseworkers or others in practice. In an age of inflation, this factor is especially important for many.
c. Desire to achieve. A basic human drive is to want to act, to accomplish. Leadership roles offer
ample opportunities for action.
d. Desire to change and improve policies and services. Administration is where changes are made
where the action takes place.
e. Reach for power. Many social workers want to be in the plans and decisions that affect the
delivery of social services. Power may be used positively as well as negatively, and many social
workers want to be a part of the positive process particularly in delivering services and in
improving society. French and Raven describe five kinds of power that can be exercised in
leadership and administrative roles:

∙ Reward power is based on the ability to give rewards for accomplishments. The strength of
the power increases with the magnitude of the rewards. Social work staff might be
 rewarded by salary increases, promotions or commendations for work well done.
∙ Coercive power is based on workers’ fear that they may be punished if they fail to conform
to the request or direction of the superior. Such power stems from individual’s
expectation of punishment if they do not do as their administrators suggest or if they
oppose their decisions or opinions.
∙ Legitimate power relates to norms and values. It stems from internalized values, so that
workers agree that a leader has a right to influence them and they have obligations to
accept it. Cultural values constitute one common basis for legitimate power.
∙ Referent power has its base in the identification of the worker with the leader. Workers
can be influenced because they admire and respect the leader.
∙ Expert power varies with the extent of the knowledge or perceptiveness that the worker
attributes to the leader. It also involves accepting advice from or guidelines set by a
superior, as they trust their leaders and believe they are telling the truth.

f. Stepping -stone. Some social workers reach executive positions with the aim of climbing up the
community ladder. Some want to shift to education or research, and leadership experience is
conducive to moving in those directions.
g. Opportunity for creativity. W. I. Thomas observed that one of the “four wishes” he believed all
humankind shared was the wish for new experiences. Leadership is social work provides
opportunities for creativity.
h. Neurotic needs. Numerous studies show that some leaders move into their positions to fulfill the
needs to be controlling, overbearing, or even sadistic or masochistic at times.
i. Service, giving of self. Most mature executive is social work genuinely want to give of themselves,
to use their abilities to help others. In fact, most practitioners feel this is the most significant
factor in successful leadership in social work. Mature, effective social work leaders would want
to do all they can to help others.

Theories of Leadership

Behavioral theories of leadership, given by Fulmer:

a. The benevolent-autocracy theory describes an all-powerful ruler who listens considerately to the
staff’s opinions and then makes his/her own decision. Robert N. McMurry advocated this
approach, which is basically antidemocratic.
b. The continuum theory, closely related to the benevolent-autocratic theory, suggests that types of
leaders can be charted along a continuum. At one end is the total authoritarian, and at the
other, the laissez-faire leader. Rensis Likert and his associates conducted statistical studies into
the behavioral style of management leadership and concluded that those that were more
employee-centered (laissez-faire) rather than job-centered were the most effective.

Blake, Mouton, Tomaino, and Gutierrez formulated a social work grid that depicts a concern for problem
solving on the horizontal plane and concern for problem solving on horizontal plan and concern for
client as a person on the vertical access.

The third category includes situational theories. This approach suggests that leadership is related not
 only to the leader’s and the group’s personality but also to situations. This type of theory is illustrated by
Fred E. Fidler, whose focus on adaptive situational leadership style includes the following dimensions
summarized by Fulmer:
a. Leader-member relations refers to the degree of confidence the subordinates have in a leader. It
also entails the loyalty shown for and the attractiveness of the leader;
b. Task structure refers to the degree to which the follower’s jobs are routine as opposed to being ill
structured and undefined; and
c. Position power refers to the power inherent in the leadership position. It includes the rewards and
punishments that are typically associated with the position, the leader’s official authority (based
on ranking in the managerial hierarchy), and the support that the leader receives form his/her
superiors and the overall organization.

Shown in table below are Conditions Associated with Different Leadership Styles by Carlisle.
CONDITION DIRECTIVE STYLE PARTICIPATIVE FREE-REIN STYLE

Focus Leader-centered Group-centered Individual centered

Decisions Leader makes Subordinates Subordinates

most decisions involve in decisions make decisions

Independence Little freedom of Fosters some Almost complete

action permitted independence independence

Communication One-way Two-way Free, open

communication communication communication

Power Uses power and Tries to persuade, Reliance on self

discipline not force control

Subordinates’ Little concerns for Subordinates’ Subordinates’

feelings subordinates feelings are feeling
considered predominates

Orientation Task-centered People and group Individual

centered accomplishment

Leader’s role Provide direction Group involvement Provide support

resources

Psychological results Obedience and Cooperation and Independence and

dependency participation individual
performance

Source: Howard M. Carlisle, Management Essentials: Concepts for Productivity and innovation, 2 nd ed. Chicago: Science Research
Associates, 1987. p. 475.
Kotin and Sharaf suggest two main leadership styles that describe the executive’s professional
behavior, “the characteristic way which he/she functions as an executive, how he/she structures
his/her role, and how he/she influences the roles and functioning of others in the organization. It is
for the most part, unrelated to policy; it is not what he/she does, but how he/she does it.” The two
styles are the tight and the loose administration patterns.

Transformational leadership in social work

Leaders who work in close collaboration with their subordinates to achieve a common goal is what
transformational leadership is all about. He/she is someone who does not only work with the team
but also motivates and inspires the organization to work towards a shared vision (swelpher.org >
2017 > transformational leadership)

For all these reasons, transformation leadership remains an imperative factor for the success at
individual, organizational and societal levels.

The top transformation leadership traits that give social work its best form:

a. Development and growth on an Individual Level

The best leadership traits are those that help an individual with self-actualization, referring to the
hierarchy of needs by Abraham Maslow, self-actualization stands at the top of the pyramid because
it enables an individual to see beyond their self-interest and work in favor of the people around.

This helps transformational leaders to work selflessly with the values and vision of the team as a
whole, including society, it’s the growth factor that facilitates him/her for this moral development
and principles.

b. Improved Performance

Transformational leaders have subordinates and team members who perform beyond expectation.
Research reveals that organizations, where transformational leaders are utilized, have better
outcome than planned.

The sense of trust and sustainability from the authority is a useful motivational factor that
influences team members to outperform themselves every time. As a result, the overall
performance of the organization and its members towards the shared vision also improves.

c. Organizational change and Development

While the transformational leadership has clearly defined structure, it has an impact on every level
of the organization. When it comes to team, motivation, it helps the member become more
inspiring, stimulating, and caring especially concerning their learning and working environment.

It won’t be and exaggeration to state that transformational leadership has a ‘failing dominos effect’
on each department and the entire organization. White at authority level it helps with setting the
vision and direction of the organization, at employee levels, it sets out the outlines for operations.
The phenomenon helps the company meet new challenges and perform better than expectations.

d. The application is wider than social overall implication of the idea is much broader than that.

Society is and will always remain one of the most crucial areas where transformational leadership
plays its role. However, overall implication of the idea is much broader than that.

A variety of settings can benefit from the positive traits and behaviors of transformational
leadership. Whether it is health care, nursing, education or finance, the idea has provided more
effective than any other form of leadership. In addition to social work, it can also be applied to
industrial and militaristic settings.

Since transformational leadership encourages the values of the people around, it plays a vital role in
areas like social justice, personal empowerment, self-knowledge, service, citizenship, and
collaboration. This phenomenon can completely reshape the goal and how teams and organizations
work and can also be used in conjunction with other leadership styles for better outcome.

Top Seven Management Styles (Which one is good for Social Work?)

1. Authoritarian Management styles

Involves managing through clear direction and control. It is also sometimes referred to as
the autocratic or directive management style. Authoritarian managers typically assert strong
authority, has total decision-making power, and expect unquestioned obedience.

2. Visionary management styles

Is also sometimes called inspirational, charismatic, strategic, transformational or

authoritative. Visionary managers focus on conveying the overall vision of he organization,
department or project to their team.

Visionary leaders don’t involve themselves at the day-to-day details, instead, they focus on
motivation and alignment of the team, to keep everyone moving in the same direction, and
entrust their team members to handle the details about how to get there.

3. Transactional management styles

Focuses on using positive rewards such as incentives, bonuses, and stock options to
motivate employees to improve their performance.

This management style is founded on the belief that you can successfully manage and
motivate employees to extrinsic rewards.

4. Servant leadership management styles

This management style is sometimes called coaching, mentoring or training. This style
focuses on supporting employees. Managers who embrace this style spend their time in
 coaching, mentoring and supporting their team. The see their role as one of an advisor or
coach rather than a dictator or rule enforcer.

In order to be an effective servant leader, you need to be highly experienced both in te jobs
of our employees and in performing coaching. Strong interpersonal skills are needed in
order to relate well with your team and build a mentoring relationship.

5. Pacesetting management styles

Embodies leading from the front of the pack. As a manager, you provide instructions and set
a work pace, and then expect your employees to follow in tor footsteps.
Typically, pacesetting involves setting high or hard to reach standard in an effort to drive
tour team to achieve new bests and hit bigger goals.

For it to be successful, you will need to be capable of setting a pace that is challenging for
your team. You will also need to ensure that they are motivated enough to try to match
your pace.

6. Democratic management styles

Is also sometimes referred to a consultative, consensus, participative, collaborative, or

affiliative style. This style is based on the philosophy that two heads are better than one and
that everyone deserves to have a say, no matter what their position or title.

Managers who adopt a democratic style encourage ideas sharing and regular employee
participation. The focus is on encouraging your team to share their thoughts, ideas,
suggestions, and potential solutions in order to help each other, and the company grows.

In a democracy, you as manager, retain the final decision-making authority, but you seek
out and take into account the thoughts, ideas and recommendations of your team before
making any decision.

7. Laissez-Faire management styles

Emphasizes employee freedom. There is no oversight during the creation or production

process, promotes self-directed teams and typically only get involved if something goes
wrong or the team requests it.

Manager will only appear present at the beginning and the end of the work process. At the
beginning provide guidelines, share information, and answer questions. At the end to review
the outcomes of the team and provide advice or recommendation about how the team can
do even better next time.
www.workzone.com .blog> management style