how it works: read this ce program, complete the post test ...€¦ · a well-defined mission...

Originally printed March 2011 FOCUS CE COURSE • Nonprofit Leadership for Social Workers 1

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Participants will understand or be able to identify:

1. The importance for social work leaders to understand the mission, vision and values in a nonprofit organization.

2. The role and responsibilities of the Board of Directors of a nonprofit and its relationship with the Executive Director.

3. The attributes of effective leadership for social workers.

Introduction

Nonprofit organizations are among the largest employers in the state of Massachusetts with 17% of the state workforce, or 1 in 7 employees, working for a nonprofit organization. Currently there are more than 25,000 nonprofit organizations, employing more than 400,000 people in the Commonwealth. Nonprofit organizations can include, for example: social and human services, membership organizations, hospitals, colleges and universities, private schools and camps, and religious and civic organizations. Nonprofits differ from for-profit organizations in a number of ways that include:• Ownership: For-profit companies are owned by the stockholders while nonprofits are owned by the public.

• Surplus income: For-profits pay out surplus income (also known as profit) to the owners or shareholders. Nonprofit organizations do not accumulate profit. At the end of the fiscal year, any surplus income must be reinvested in the work of the organization serving the public good.

• Success: For-profit organizations measure success by the profit made and returned to the owners. Nonprofit organizations measure success by their progress in meeting their mission and serving the public.

• Purpose: For-profit organizations are organized around the purpose of producing a profit or income for its owners or shareholders. Nonprofit organizations are organized to serve a public good or need on service of its specified mission. The public needs that nonprofits address may include: arts, charitable needs, civic affairs, culture, education, environment, health, literacy, social or human services, religious, scientific, advocacy, law and public policy and representation of professional concerns.

Elements of an Effectively-Managed Organization

The Support Center for Nonprofit Management1 has enumerated six elements that must be in place for any organization to be considered effectively managed:

1. Mission: Clearly articulated purpose; agreed upon values and beliefs; clear understanding of what business(es) the organization is in; quality programs that support the mission.

2. Planning: Long range plans based on priorities; annual planning for program, administrative and funding goals and objectives; program evaluation; agreement on major strategies; purpose is being accomplished.

3. Structure: Well defined organizational structure that ensures that work gets accomplished; clear lines of authority and responsibility including reporting relationships; a decision making structure that supports the implementation of decisions; personnel policies and procedures are in place and adhered to.

YOU ARE HOLDING 2 CEs IN YOUR HAND!How it works: Read this CE program, complete the Post Test and Evaluation

and mail to the Chapter office with your check. Score 80% or better and NASW will mail you a certificate for your CEs. It’s that easy!

Nonprofit Leadership for Social WorkersIrwin Nesoff, DSW

Associate Professor of Social Work, and Chair, Masters in Organizational Leadership, Wheelock College


4. People: Competent staff; clear roles with written job descriptions and evaluations for Board and staff; ongoing training and leadership development; Board and paid/volunteer staff are appropriately rewarded or compensated and recognized.

5. Systems: Fund development, planning and implementation that secures adequate resources; accurate and timely financial records, reporting and management; effective use of appropriate technology, computers and other management information systems.

6. Results and Quality: In-depth program evaluations are conducted; an established feedback mechanism to assess client needs and satisfaction; programs are effective and efficiently run and support the organization’s mission.

Mission

The mission is the defining feature of a nonprofit organization, outlining the purpose and aspirations of the organization. The mission statement of a nonprofit answers the question why the organization exists. What is the social good that the organization has been created to address and further. A well-conceived and written mission statement serves the purpose of keeping the organization on track, allowing all activities to be measured against whether or not they further the mission of the organization. Activities that are not consistent with, or do not further the mission of the organization can lead to “mission creep,” taking the organization in a direction that dilutes its focus and intent and may cause precious resources to be directed away from the purposes of the organization.

A well-defined mission statement will help to focus the organization’s energy and resources and can help to motivate staff. Therefore it is important that all staff and board members are familiar with the mission of the organization and are aware of how their position and the work that they do contribute to furthering the mission.

A mission statement should include two components: the Purpose and the Business. The Purpose is the end result that the organization seeks to achieve, or another way of stating this is the change that it seeks to create in the world. The Business component is a statement of the methods that will be used to reach the change that is sought.

Following is an example of an organization that has a very specific mission but one that also limits the types of interventions that it can engage in: XYZ Organization seeks to decrease homelessness among families by building and maintaining permanent, affordable housing. In this example XYZ organization exists for one clearly stated purpose and can seek to reach this purpose through one specific intervention; building and maintaining permanent, affordable housing. If they chose to engage in other services such as counseling, emergency shelter or other preventive services their mission, the way that it is currently written, would hinder them from doing so. However, a broader mission statement would allow them to still engage in their core service, building and maintaining housing, while also providing other services for homeless families.

Here, is an example of a mission statement for the same agency that would allow it to provide a broader range of services in its goal to decrease homelessness among families: XYZ agency seeks to decrease homelessness among families by building and maintaining permanent affordable housing and through the provision of supportive services. In this example, it is clear that the organization’s core business is housing but it is also free to pursue other services to help reduce homelessness among families. This is an example of a mission statement that is specific, communicates why the organization exists, what and how it hopes to achieve, but it is also broad enough to allow the organization to provide a range of services without being so broad that it is not focused.

Vision

The vision statement is a clear statement of the future world that the organization seeks. It is a statement of the ideal world if the organization was successful in eradicating or solving the issues that it is addressing. The vision statement reflects the ultimate goal for which the organization is striving. The vision statement should be clear and serve to motivate and inspire the organization and its supporters. There are two types of vision statements; it can reflect what the organization will be best at or what an ideal world would look like if the organization were no longer needed. Following are examples of these two types of vision statements for the XYZ Organization:

1. XYZ Organization will serve as a model of excellence providing effective services and reducing the number of families who are homeless.

2. The vision of XYZ Organization is a country where all families can live in permanent housing that is affordable and adequate to their needs.

Values

Nonprofit organizations, unlike for-profit businesses, are also value-driven. The values that a nonprofit operates under should be communicated to all staff, board and supporters and will inform the culture of the organization.


The values that guide nonprofit organizations should include:• Acting with integrity, openness, and honesty to earn and convey trust.

• Efficient, cost-effective, and compassionate for the long-term, recognizing that the nonprofit is managed for the public good through the generosity of others.

• Ensuring that all organization policies and procedures are legally grounded, of high quality, and respectful of the dignity and rights of individuals.

• Respect all people’s race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and level of ability. Differences will not affect a person’s opportunities for advancement within the organization or access to services.

• Board, staff, volunteers, and contractors should reflect the diversity of the organization’s constituencies and the broader community.

• Facilities that allow reasonable access to persons of all ability levels, and are maintained in such a way to preserve the dignity of consumers.

• Act in ways that further the equality of opportunity among individuals and communities.

Governance

All incorporated organizations (for-profit and nonprofit) are governed by a board of directors that is legally charged to govern the corporation. In a for-profit corporation the board is responsible to the shareholders, while in a nonprofit the board is responsible to the stakeholders which include staff, funders, constituents, consumers and government regulators.

The role of the board of directors is to ensure good governance by providing strategic leadership to the nonprofit. This includes setting direction, making policy and strategy decisions, overseeing and monitoring organizational performance, and ensuring overall accountability.

Nonprofits and the Law

Incorporation

Nonprofit corporations in the Commonwealth must register with the Secretary of State. In order to qualify for federal tax-exempt status, the articles of incorporation should include “a statement of purpose and statements indicating that the organization will not engage in prohibited political and legislative activity and that all of its assets will be dedicated to its exempt purpose under 501(c)(3).”2 Once incorporated a nonprofit can apply to the IRS for federal tax-exempt status, commonly known as 501(c)(3)

Bylaws

Bylaws are the internal operating rules and procedures for how a nonprofit corporation will operate and be governed, establishing the parameters within which the organization will function. Although there are no set criteria for bylaw content, typically they should include the following:• Name of the organization.

• The purpose or mission of the nonprofit.

• The titles and responsibilities of nonprofit corporate officers and directors.

• The size of the board of directors and their term of office and election procedures.

• How and when board meetings will be held, and who may call meetings.

• How to amend the bylaws.

• How grant monies will be distributed (some donors require that the bylaws contain a provision barring any person who exercises supervisory powers to individually benefit from grant funds)

Articles of Incorporation

To function as a legal entity within the State of Massachusetts all nonprofits must file articles of incorporation with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Articles of Incorporation must include the following information:

• The exact name of the corporation.


• The purpose of the corporation and the activities it will engage in.

• The designation of classes of membership, the manner of election or appointments, the duration of membership and the qualification and rights, including voting rights of the members of each class.

• Other lawful provisions, if any, for the conduct and regulation of the business and affairs of the corporation, including voluntary dissolution, or for limiting, defining, or regulating the powers of the corporation, or of its directors or members.

• A copy of the organization’s bylaws

• The effective date of the incorporation of the organization.

• The names and addresses of all directors of the organization.

Sarbanes-Oxley

Passed in 2002 in response to the Enron and other corporate excesses, Sarbanes-Oxley is directed at publicly traded corporations but also impacts nonprofits. The Act was designed to strengthen corporate governance and deter fraud in the corporate sector, but it also raised questions about nonprofit governance and whether or not nonprofits should comply with its standards. The Internal Revenue Service, through changes to the Form 990, including a question requiring nonprofits to report on their conflict of interest policy, and the release of draft governance guidelines, demonstrates that there is the intent to increase government regulation and oversight of nonprofits as well.

Even if the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is not amended to include nonprofits, it has altered the expectations and standards on nonprofit governance, and the regulatory climate in which nonprofits operate. This concern is illustrated by recent guidelines issued by Independent Sector, a coalition of nonprofits and foundations, at the request of the Senate Finance Committee. In part, these guidelines call on nonprofits to “adopt written conflict of interest, document retention, and whistleblower policies, and, for nonprofits that have an audit, to consider establishing an independent audit committee—all provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley. These ongoing elements testify to a growing recognition that nonprofits are under greater scrutiny and must demonstrate their public accountability.”3

To comply with Sarbanes-Oxley, nonprofit boards and execs should follow some very simple guidelines that include:

If the nonprofit conducts an annual audit it should establish an independent audit made up of board members. “Nonprofit organizations need to ensure that board committee members of the audit committee have the financial competency to understand financial statements, to evaluate accounting firm bids to undertake auditing, and to make sound financial decisions as part of their fiduciary responsibilities.”4 (While not required of all nonprofits, an annual audit by an independent, outside auditor is good practice, especially for nonprofits that expend more than $500,000 in federal funds.)

While not required for nonprofits, they should follow the Sarbanes-Oxley rule of preventing auditing firms from providing non-auditing service, thereby preventing possible conflicts of interest. However, it is acceptable to have the audit firm prepare tax forms for the organization.

The CEO should review and fully understand all financial statements to ensure that they are accurate and complete. The board should review and approve the annual audit and also review the form 990 prior to filing to ensure accuracy and timeliness. Form 990 is an annual filing with the IRS that is required of all nonprofit organizations. These completed forms for many nonprofits are published on the internet at Guidestar making them available to the public.

While not a common practice in nonprofits, loans to insiders are strictly forbidden for for-profit corporations. “If such loans are provided, they should be formally approved by the board, the process for providing the loan should be documented, and the value and terms of the loan should be disclosed. To guide the board and staff in independent decision-making, the organization must have a conflict-of-interest policy with board members annually disclosing their potential conflicts of interest, and this policy must be enforced without fail.”5

Whistle-blower protections are included in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to which nonprofits should pay close attention. Organizations should develop practices and written procedures for handling employee and volunteer complaints that allow for anonymous reporting or any irregularities in the way in which the organization handles its fiscal and contractual responsibilities, and that also protect against retaliation.

Legal Responsibilities of the Board

According to the Council on Foundations 6: “A director owes a fiduciary duty to the Corporation. In performing his or her duties, a director must act in the best interests of the Corporation (e.g., work to fulfill the Corporation’s tax-exempt purposes and maintain its


tax-exempt status). The director may not act in a way that is detrimental to the Corporation in an effort to benefit any third party. The director must disclose to the other members of the board of the Corporation when the board’s actions may have a material impact on the director or another corporation or entity in which the director has a financial interest. The director must not participate in any board discussion or vote on such issues, unless the board determines that the director may so participate.”

Looking at the role of a nonprofit board from a legal perspective, the nonprofit board and each of its members have three basic duties:

1. Duty of Care: Exercising the judgment that any reasonable and prudent person would exhibit in the process of making informed decisions, including acting in good faith consistent with what a member of the board truly believes is in the best interest of the organization. Active preparation for and participation in board meetings where decisions are to be made is an integral element of the duty of care.

2. Duty of Loyalty: The board and its members must act in good faith to advance the interests of the organization. This means that board members will not authorize or engage in transactions except those in which the best possible outcomes or terms for the organization can be achieved. This standard constrains a board member from participating in board discussions and decisions when they as an individual have a conflict of interest (i.e., personal interests conflict with organizational interests), or they may benefit personally from the decision or action.

3. Duty of Obedience: The board and its members must follow the requirements of all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, as well as honoring the terms and conditions of the organization’s mission, bylaws, policies and other standards of appropriate behavior.7

The Role of The Board of Directors

In fulfilling these legal obligations and in taking responsibility for the governance of the organization, a strong and well-functioning board has specific roles and responsibilities that it must fulfill:

• The board as a body, must approve the nonprofit’s plans and procedures. The activities of the board are dictated by state law and by the bylaws of the corporation and by written board procedures.

• The power of the board is vested in the group as a whole and not in any one individual member. Therefore, no board member has the authority to act in the board’s behalf, unless they have been given explicit authority to do so.

• The board is responsible for establishing top-level plans and polices defining the purpose and direction of the organization. It is the role of staff to carry out these plans and policies. The board, as a body, should not become involved in the day to day operations of the nonprofit, if it is functioning as it should. In times of crisis or loss of the organization’s chief executive, the board may have a responsibility to step in to maintain the integrity of the organization and continuity of services.8

Ten basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards:

1. Determine the organization’s mission and purpose.

2. Select and evaluate the chief executive.

3. Provide proper financial oversight.

4. Ensure adequate resources for the organization to fulfill its mission.

5. Ensure legal and ethical integrity and maintain accountability. The board is the ultimate legal entity that is responsible for seeing that legal standards and ethical norms are adhered to.

6. Ensure effective organizational planning.

7. Recruit and orient new board members and assess board performance, including providing written job descriptions for board members.

8. Enhance the organization’s public standing. The board, collectively and as individuals, should be able to articulate the organization’s mission to the public, and its accomplishments and goals.

9. Evaluate, monitor and strengthen the organization’s programs and services. The board is responsible for ensuring that all programs and services are consistent with the mission and for monitoring their effectiveness.

10. Support the chief executive and assess her or his performance.9


Attributes of a High Performing Board

According to The Nonprofit Board Answer Book,10 the following are some of the attributes of a high performing board:

• The role of the board is clear and distinct from the role of the staff. The primary role of the board is oversight and guidance while the primary role of the staff is management and services delivery. These roles must be spelled out clearly so that they are parallel and supportive of each other but not competing. Day-to-day operations of the agency are the distinct role of staff.

• Board members have three hats and only one can be worn at a time. These three “hats” or roles include:

A. Oversight: Acting as a unified group, and not separate individuals, the board sets direction for the agency and ensures that agency programs and services are mission consistent.

B. Implementation: Boards often delegate specific tasks to individual board members. When a task has been delegated it is the obligation of the board member to fulfill this task according to the board’s directions and following the “prudent person” standard.

C. Volunteer: When board members serve as volunteers within the organization (helping stuff envelopes, serve meals, etc.) they are serving as volunteers and not a board member so care must be taken not to take charge or to make decisions as a board member.

• The board provides clear direction. Through guidelines, formal policies and official stands the board is clear about the organization’s mission, purpose and priorities.

• The chief executive is responsible for achieving goals within parameters established by the board. The chief executive has the primary responsibility of achieving the goals and priorities established by the board. Lines of accountability between the CEO and the board are clear and the CEO is empowered to fulfill all expectations and responsibilities delegated to her/him by the board.

• The board chair manages the board with support from the chief executive. The board chair manages the board and the CEO manages the organization. The chair and the CEO follow their roles and provide mutual support to each other.

• Board meetings are well-planned. Advance preparation helps to make meetings productive and enjoyable. Board members are sent materials in advance so that the board can make informed decisions that will advance the work of the organization and its mission.

• Board members are carefully selected, oriented, and trained. Potential members are sought out who possess the motivation, skills, values and experience to help the organization to be successful in its pursuit of the mission. High performing boards also invest in orientation for new members and ongoing training for members that help keep the board focused on its work and the members on their contributions to the work of the board.

Board Staff Relations

One key to a successfully run nonprofit is a strong working relationship between the board and the chief executive, functioning as a strategic partnership. While the staff is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization, the board is the legal entity with fiduciary responsibility for the organization. Both the board and the staff share responsibility for many of the significant operations of the organization; it is imperative that there is a clear distinction and a working understanding of the responsibilities that belong to the board and those that are staff responsibilities. Some areas that are shared responsibilities include:• Planning: The board is responsible for approving long-range goals and annual objectives for the organization. Developing long-

range goals is a joint board/staff effort, formulating annual objectives for board approval is a staff responsibility, while monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives should be a joint effort.

• Fiscal: The board is responsible for finalizing, approving and monitoring budgets, while it is a staff responsibility to develop and propose preliminary budgets. The board also approves significant budget modifications and expenditures outside of the budget. It is also a board responsibility to ensure that the organization has an annual audit of all accounts performed by an outside auditor. Additionally both board and staff are responsible for seeking and obtaining funding for the organization.

• Programming: The board is responsible to approve all outside contracts, but it is a staff or a shared responsibility to negotiate these contracts. The board is responsible for overseeing the evaluation of all programs and services and ensuring that contract requirements are met.

• Personnel: The board hires and evaluates the chief executive, but it is a staff responsibility to hire and evaluate other staff. The board is also responsible for reviewing and approving personnel policies and employee benefits.


• Community Relations: This is a shared responsibility that includes interpreting the organization to the community and establishing and maintaining linkages with other organizations.

Role of the Chief Executive Officer

The Chief Executive or Executive Director is hired and supervised by and reports directly to the Board of Directors. Working closely with the Board, the CEO is responsible for implementing strategic goals and objectives of the organization, support the board in fulfilling its governance functions and to provide leadership toward fulfilling the organization’s mission and annual goals and objectives. According to McNamara,11 there are six major functions of the CEO/Executive Director, these are:

1. Board Administration and Support: It is the role of the CEO to facilitate the work of the Board. The CEO must ensure that the board is well informed and up to date on all organization functions and programs. This can be done through regular written reports that are reviewed at full board and committee meetings. As conditions change or issues come up between meetings, the CEO must ensure that the board remains informed and knowledgeable. To accomplish this, the CEO should meet with the President/Chair of the board on a regular basis to review and determine those issues requiring board attention. Additionally the CEO should work closely with the full board and all committees to develop and ensure that strategic goals and performance objectives are being met. The CEO must develop a close working relationship with the board president, individual members and the full board to ensure that the board can fulfill its governance role properly.

2. Program, Service and Product Delivery: The CEO oversees the design and implementation of all programs and services to ensure that the organization continually meets the needs of its clients, regulators and funders. The CEO will keep the board informed and up-to-date about all programs, services and their effectiveness. The CEO leads the organization’s efforts, with board and staff, to develop short and long-term goals and objectives for programs and agency functions. They ensure that all programs and services are evaluated on a regular basis and based upon these evaluations implement appropriate changes when needed.

3. Financial, Tax, Risk and Facilities Management: The CEO develops an annual budget that is presented to the board for approval. Once this budget is approved the CEO must operate the organization within the limits of the approved budget. The CEO is also responsible for managing the organization in a manner that is consistent with all relevant laws and regulations and within the policies set forth by the Board of Directors. This includes ensuring that all taxes are paid, that sound financial practices are followed and that the organization facilities are maintained in a safe and efficient manner. The CEO usually works closely with the Finance Committee of the Board to provide oversight of all financial matters. It is the CEO’s responsibility to provide regular reports to the Board on the annual budget and overall finances and on cash flow projections.

4. Human Resource Management: The CEO is responsible for overseeing staffing, training and supervision of all personnel. These activities are guided by up to date personnel policies and procedure that are reviewed and approved by the Board. The board can approve new personnel positions and salaries and benefits, but it is the role of the CEO to oversee all staff functions including hiring, evaluation and terminating when necessary.

5. Community and Public Relations: It is the responsibility of the CEO to ensure that the community is informed of the work of the organization and to strive to ensure that the community has a positive image of the organization. To achieve this, the CEO may engage in some or all of the following activities: oversee the creation and execution of marketing activities; developing and maintaining regular communication with the organization’s stakeholders, including volunteers, contributors and funders, the business and professional community and consumers.

6. Fundraising: Working closely with the board, the CEO leads the organization’s fundraising efforts. This should include setting annual fundraising goals, researching and targeting funding sources and making the appeal. The CEO works with appropriate staff and board members to identify and cultivate potential funding sources, and oversees the timeliness and quality of the submission of grant proposals and progress reports to institutional and public funders.

Leadership in an Organization

Leadership in the organization is provided by the CEO and the Board President. It is these two individuals who are responsible for taking the long view and seeing to the needs of the overall organization. Program directors, managers, unit supervisors, etc. are responsible for managing their individual programs and often do not take a holistic view of the organization, but focus on their program or area of influence. It is the role of the President and CEO to ensure that all staff, board and volunteers are aware of, and committed to the mission and vision of the organization, and how each program and department are integral to the achievement of this mission.


Leadership is perhaps one of the most written about topics but a common, working definition of leadership has not emerged. In his book Leaders12, Warren Bennis addresses this lack of a common understanding of the attributes of effective leadership: “Decades of academic analysis have given us more than 350 definitions of leadership. Literally thousands of empirical investigations of leaders have been conducted in the last seventy-five years alone, but no clear and unequivocal understanding exists as to what distinguishes leaders from non-leaders, and perhaps more important, what distinguishes effective leaders from ineffective leaders and effective organizations from ineffective organizations.”

Bennis then goes on to draw the distinction between leaders and managers, when he writes: “Managers are people who do things right, and leaders are people who do the right things. The difference may be summarized as activities of vision and judgment: effectiveness versus activities of mastering routines: efficiency. By focusing attention on the vision, the leader operates on the emotional and spiritual resources of the organization, on its values, commitment, and aspirations. The manager by contrast, operates on the physical resources of the organization, on its capital, human skills, raw materials, and technology.”13

Peter Drucker, the management guru, put it very succinctly when he wrote: “No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings.”

In these two quotes Bennis and Drucker demystify leadership, first by differentiating it from the functions of a manager, then by stating that leaders are merely average human beings. This suggests that leaders are not born nor are they only people with special talents, but that leadership is a set of learned skills and traits that can be mastered by anyone willing to put in the time and energy. So, let’s take a look at what leadership is and what makes a successful leader.

Peter Northouse14 defines leadership as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.” In defining leadership as a process, Northouse makes the distinction that “it is not a trait or characteristic that resides in the leader, but rather a transactional event that occurs between the leader and the followers. Process implies that a leader affects and is affected by followers. It emphasizes that leadership is not a linear, one-way event, but rather an interactive event... Both leaders and followers are involved together in the leadership process. Leaders need followers and followers need leaders. Although leaders and followers are closely linked, it is the leader who often initiates the relationship, creates the communication linkages, and carries the burden for maintaining the relationship” (pgs. 3-4).

In recent years there has been a shift away from experienced social workers as administrators of social service agencies, in favor of administrators with business training or experience. Rino Patti15 notes that the “call of high level managers for more business talent” gives “the sense that many executives are saying that social workers don’t bring to the table what they are looking for in upper management.” However, in their book Changing Hats, Perlmutter and Crook16 address this when they write: “The perspectives gained by working as a direct service practitioner provide the administrator with an invaluable base for responsive and effective agency leadership.”

Perlmutter and Crook have enumerated four basic assumptions underlying the role of social workers as human services administrators:

1. Social Work Experience is Valuable: Because of their knowledge of programs, clients and service systems, social workers are uniquely prepared to lead human service organizations.

2. The Administrator as a Change Agent: The role of the social work administrator is a proactive one, a role that provides leadership in the broadest sense. In addition to keeping the organization running effectively and efficiently, meeting current needs, the leader must also have the ability to anticipate future needs and challenges.

3. The Administrator is an Advocate: Effective social work leaders must serve as advocates for the constituencies that they serve, with a commitment to inform the broader community about the needs of their clientele but also working for improved social welfare policies and increased resources.

4. Administrators are Responsible for Empowerment: Consistent with self-determination as delineated in the Code of Ethics, effective leaders seek out input from those affected by their decisions. This focus on staff and client empowerment distinguishes social work administrators from other professional approaches.

In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins develops the concept of a hierarchy of leadership broken down into five levels illustrated in a pyramid, with Level 1 as the base and Level 5 as the top; these are:

Level 1: Highly Capable Individual: Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits.

Level 2: Contributing Team Member: Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives, and works effectively with others in a group setting.


Level 3: Competent Manager: Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.

Level 4: Effective Leader: Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards.

Level 5: Executive: Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.

Collins goes on to define greatness in an organization as one that “delivers superior performance and makes a distinctive impact over a long period of time…for a social sector organization... performance must be assessed relative to mission not financial returns. In the social sectors, the critical question is not ‘How much money do we make per dollar of invested capital?’ but ‘How effectively do we deliver on our mission and make a distinctive impact relative to our resources?’

Leadership is the key to a well-functioning, successful organization. Although every organization may not achieve greatness, it is a goal worth working towards. However, in order to achieve organizational greatness or at least success in achieving the organization’s mission, strong, competent and effective leadership is required. Not all leaders have the capacity to achieve “Level 5” as described by Collins, for most organizations “Level 4” is a goal worthy of achieving in their leader. To achieve this goal, it is important to understand the various attributes of effective leaders and the skills that they employ. Current leadership theory delineates several different types of leaders and leadership styles. We will take a look at a few of these to understand the necessary characteristics and skills of an effective leader.

Effective leaders share the following characteristics that help them lead their organizations to higher levels of success:• They are mission-driven.

• Focus on internal and external customer service.

• Utilize knowledge-based decision making.

• Foster open communication and a collaborative environment.

• They are action-oriented: willing to change and adapt.

• They possess the ability to move beyond intuition, using data/information to make informed decisions.

• Use credible knowledge specific to the decisions that must be made.

• Decisions are data-driven: not opinion-driven.17

How does one achieve this higher level of effective leadership that generates greatness in an organization? As discussed earlier there are numerous theories on effective leadership that have developed over the decades. There are far too many to cover in the context of this course, therefore we will focus on a few of these theories that are consistent with social work practice and social workers as organizational leaders.

Social and Emotional Intelligence

One concept of leadership that has received considerable attention in recent years is social intelligence. According to Karl Albrecht, social intelligence is the ability to get along well with others while winning their cooperation. Social intelligence combines sensitivity to the needs and interests of others, an attitude of generosity and consideration, and a set of practical skills for interacting successfully with people.18

Social intelligence has been empirically tied to good leadership and much research has been done to demonstrate that leaders who have strong social intelligence can have an impact on how others act through changes in brain chemistry.

Daniel Goleman, best known for his work in social and emotional intelligence, explains this phenomenon: “…research in the emerging field of social neuroscience —the study of what happens in the brain while people interact—is beginning to reveal subtle new truths about what makes a good leader. The salient discovery is that certain things leaders do—specifically, exhibit empathy and become attuned to others’ moods—literally affect both their own brain chemistry and that of their follower... Leading effectively is, in other words, less about mastering situations—or even mastering social skill sets—than about developing a genuine interest in and talent for fostering positive feelings in the people whose cooperation and support you need.”19

According to research in the field of social intelligence and leadership, effective leadership is not about the individual accomplishments of the leader, but the ways in which an effective leader motivates and energizes the people whom s/he leads. Through his research, Goleman developed the concept of emotional intelligence. In his 1995 book of that name, Goleman found “that while the qualities traditionally associated with leadership: such as intelligence, toughness, determination and vision: are required for success, they are insufficient. Truly effective leaders are distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence, which includes


self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill.”20

Understanding social intelligence (SI) and emotional intelligence (EI), provides insight into the effect that we have on others when interacting with them. The real test of SI and EI is also understanding the changes that you should make in order for interactions to be a positive experience for both parties. Both SI and EI are learned skills, but must come from a deep level of self-understanding. Self-reflection, a practice used by social workers, can help with the development of both SI and EI. Through the process of action, reflection and action, leaders can learn to improve their level of SI and EI and thereby improve their leadership capabilities.

There is some confusion distinguishing between SI and EI, as there is much overlap in these two concepts. Emotional intelligence as developed by Goleman, builds upon the concept and understanding of social intelligence. Salovey & Mayer (1990) describe emotional intelligence as “a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action21.”

Social work, a profession that requires a high level of both social and emotional intelligence, provides a solid foundation for building leadership skills. So, let’s take a look at the specifics of each and how they apply to leadership.

Social Intelligence

Social intelligence has been operationally defined as having the following seven attributes, each one a quality of effective leadership (and all consistent with good social work practice and training):

1. Empathy: Understanding what motivates people. Are you sensitive to their needs, even those of different backgrounds?

2. Attunement: Listening attentively and thinking about how others feel. Are you attuned to the moods of others?

3. Organizational Awareness: Awareness and appreciation of the organizational culture and values. Do you understand social networks and their unspoken norms?

4. Influence: Persuading others through engaging in discussion, appealing to their interests and gaining support from key people.

5. Developing others: Investing time and energy in mentoring and providing feedback that is helpful to the personal and professional growth of others.

6. Inspiration: Leading by bringing out the best in people through articulating a compelling vision and fostering a positive emotional tone that builds group pride.

7. Teamwork: Encouraging the participation of everyone on your team, supporting all members, and fostering cooperation.

Goleman has found in his research that: “...most effective leaders are alike in one crucial way: They all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. It’s not that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They do matter, but mainly as “threshold capabilities”; that is, they are the entry-level requirements for executive positions. But my research, along with other recent studies, clearly shows that emotional intelligence is the sin qua non of leadership. Without it, a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind, and an endless supply of smart ideas, but (s)he won’t make a great leader.”22

Emotional Intelligence

According to Goleman, there are five components of Emotional intelligence. The following, taken from Goleman’s 2004 article What Makes a Leader?, lists the five components of EI with Goleman’s definitions of each and how they manifest in action (again, each of these are consistent with good social work practice and training).

1. Self-Awareness: The ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions, and drives, as well as their effect on others. These are operationalized through self-confidence, realistic self-assessment and a self-deprecating sense of humor.

2. Self-Regulation: The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods coupled with the propensity to suspend judgment, to think before acting. These are acted out through trustworthiness and integrity, comfort with ambiguity and an openness to change.

3. Motivation: A passion to work for reasons that go beyond money or status and a propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence. We see these in leaders through a strong drive to achieve, optimism (even in the face of failure) and organizational commitment.

4. Empathy: The ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people coupled with the skill to treat people according to their emotional reactions. This can be seen in an expertise to develop and retain talent, cross cultural sensitivity and a focus on service to clients and consumers.


5. Social Skill: Proficiency in managing relationships and building networks and an ability to find common ground and build rapport. Social skill plays itself out through a leader’s effectiveness in leading change, her/his persuasiveness and an expertise in building and leading teams.

According to Ruderman, Hannum, Leslie and Steed “four principal themes stand out from the relationships found between leadership abilities and emotional intelligence, and between derailment characteristics and emotional intelligence:

1. As organizations realize that the command-and-control, hierarchical model of leadership is no longer effective, they are increasingly moving toward a more participative management style. It appears that managers can more easily embrace this change and adapt to this style when they have certain emotional intelligence abilities—forming good working relationships, being cooperative and constructive members of a group, controlling anger and other impulses, and in general being pleasant to be around.

2. Being centered and grounded is a valuable quality for managers. It’s important for managers to give the impression that they are in control of themselves, understand themselves, and know their own strengths and weaknesses. The degree to which managers are perceived as being self- aware, straightforward, and composed and as having balance between their personal and work lives is based largely on how they react under pressure and in difficult situations.

3. A willingness and ability to take action is key to effective leadership. Decisiveness and doing whatever it takes to achieve a goal are associated with independence in thought and actions. Managers who are independent do not ignore the opinions of others but are also not dependent on such input.

4. Organizations are placing increased value on interpersonal relationships, and managers who don’t handle their emotions well, who lack understanding of themselves and others, and who are abrasive or abusive make others feel uncomfortable.23

Emotional intelligence in combination with the attributes of social intelligence is reflective of good social work practice. Solavey and Mayer state: “People who have developed skills related to emotional intelligence understand and express their own emotions, recognize emotions in others, regulate affect, and use moods and emotions to motivate adaptive behaviors.”24 These are the very same skills that a social worker must master in order to be successful, which should lead to the obvious conclusion: social workers make excellent organizational leaders. The distance between good social work practice and good leadership is very small and easy to traverse.

According to Felice Davidson-Perlmutter, author of Changing Hats: From Social Work Practice to Administration, “Social work is still one of the few professions that has as its life’s blood a commitment to being consumer-oriented, to working with disenfranchised populations, dealing with social problems, focusing on social policy, and promoting advocacy. The value of having someone with a social work degree in management is their orientation to the clients, services, and advocacy.”25

Relational Leadership Model

Komives, Lucas and McMahon have developed the Relational Leadership Model26 that is based upon five components, each of which can also be seen as a basic component of effective social work practice, reinforcing the concept that social work skills/training form a solid foundation for successful organizational leadership.

Effective leadership is not a solitary act nor is it something that comes forth in edicts from on high. Although there are many successful leaders who lead through fear, intimidation, and edict or through their writings or speeches, most leadership happens within an interactive context between individuals and groups and among group members. In the relational view, leadership is a process that takes place when people work together to achieve a common goal. According to Komives, Lucas and McMahon, “this approach to leadership is purposeful and builds commitment towards positive purposes that are inclusive of people and diverse points of view, empowers those involved, is ethical and recognizes that all four of these elements are accomplished by being process oriented.”27

The five primary components of the Relational Model of Leadership, as developed by Komives, Lucas and McMahon, are:

1. Purposeful: This involves one’s commitment to a goal or activity and the ability to work with others, collaboratively, to facilitate positive change. Being purposeful involves building a shared vision among others, through the ability to resolve differences and to move forward toward a shared vision recognizing that people will support what they have helped to create. To be truly effective, a leader cannot impose her/his vision on others and expect them to join the effort enthusiastically, rather the leader must seek ways to engage and recruit others to a shared vision.

2. Inclusive: An inclusive leader is one who values and embraces diversity in all of its aspects. This includes ones valuing diverse points of view, approaches to problem solving, and individuality in style that add multiple perspectives to the work of a group or organization.


Being inclusive means: “understanding how different groups or individuals might approach issues from different perspectives or frames, maintaining the attitudes that respect differences and valuing equity and involvement ... having the skills to develop the talent of members so they can be readily involved. Listening with empathy and communicating with civility are communication skills that facilitate the inclusion of others. Komives, et al describe inclusive as not just being a participative leader, involving group members in the work of the organization. Organizations have to go further and recognize that in many cases the organizational culture has to change to effectively involve people who have different backgrounds and different views and who may not embrace the dominant cultural norms.”28

3. Empowering: The authors define empowerment as having two dimensions: “(1) the sense of self that claims ownership, claims a place in the process, and expects to be involved, and (2) a set of environmental conditions (in the group or organization) that promote the full involvement of participants by reducing the barriers that block the development of individual talent and involvement.” To be an empowering leader means addressing those environmental conditions that can block the meaningful involvement of others. This may include changing policies and procedures to be more inclusive, ensuring that others have the resources and authority to get the job done, rewarding success and not punishing failure but rather using failure as a learning opportunity, mentoring for personal and professional growth, sharing information and knowledge and inspiring others in service of the organization’s mission.

4. Ethical: Ethical leaders lead from a value-based foundation helping to guide decisions and actions. An ethical leader creates an environment where all participants feel a sense of shared values, where all are working together to create positive change. Effective leadership is built upon a commitment to do the right thing and to lead by example with one’s actions based upon a strong code of ethical standards that are not compromised or amended according to the situation.

5. Process: This refers to the dynamics of a group, how people can become members of a group, how group decisions are made and how the group goes about accomplishing the tasks that it is constituted to do. Process is the way in which people interact with others and how they work together to accomplish mutual goals. A process-oriented leader is thoughtful and conscious of how the group is functioning so that all group members are free to express their thoughts and opinions even if they run contrary to the dominant thought of the group, or the wishes of the leader. Allowing for a divergence of opinion and input allows for participants to feel a sense of ownership of a process that comes through being a contributing member.

Theory X and Theory Y

These two theories of leadership were postulated in 1960 by Douglas McGregor29 who concluded, based upon research, that there are two ways to view employee motivation. In Theory X McGregor assumes that the typical person dislikes work and will avoid it whenever possible; has little ambition or responsibility and prefers to be told what to do; cares more about him/herself than organizational goals; and, will resist change. According to McGregor, from this perspective of the typical worker, we see that people work only for money and the security that it brings.

In this Theory X view, there are two approaches to leading people and helping them to be productive workers: the first employs tight controls and implicit threats requiring close supervision, an alternative approach is to be permissive and hope for harmony and hope that employees will cooperate when asked to.

However, both of these Theory X approaches have their drawbacks. The first creates hostility and mistrust, resulting in lower morale and employee output, the second approach generally results in demands for increased compensation and reduced responsibilities. However this is a failed approach because once these requests are satisfied, there is little incentive to be more productive and the need for increased compensation and reduced workload is never satisfied.

In Theory Y, McGregor postulates a more positive view of the typical worker and one that is more consistent with a strengths-based approach. According to this approach, the typical person is in pursuit of satisfying their higher level needs such as self-actualization.

Using the individual’s search for fulfillment, the Theory Y leader builds upon this as a motivating force to align personal goals with organizational goals. This is based upon the following assumptions of what people bring to the workplace:• If people are committed to their work objectives they can become self-directed.

• When given opportunities for self-fulfillment, workers will become committed to their objectives and those of the organization.

• People will seek out responsibility if the workplace provides those opportunities for self-fulfillment.

• If we believe that staff possess creativity and enterprise then they are also capable of taking on responsibility.

• And finally, work is a natural part of life such as leisure time and family time where people seek out fulfillment.


This more positive, strengths-based, approach is built upon Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, in which an effective leader can shape and mold the work environment where employees are motivated by the opportunities to satisfy their higher level need of self-actualization. A leadership approach based upon Theory Y would include:30

• Decentralization and Delegation: Decentralizing control and reducing the number of levels of management while delegating more responsibility and decision-making authority to supervisors and staff.

• Job Enlargement: Broadening the scope of an employee’s job to provide opportunities for variety and to satisfy one’s higher level needs.

• Participatory Management: Seeking ways to involve employees in the decision-making process taps into their creative abilities, provides them some control over their work environment, and serves their need for self-actualization. But perhaps more importantly, involving staff in this way brings more creativity and diverse opinions into the problem solving process opening up the possibility for new ways of seeing and doing.

• Performance Appraisals: Having employees set objectives and have input into how they will be evaluated contributes to the individual’s need for some control over their environment and demonstrates that their input is valued.

Unlike Theory X, this approach treats employees as valued assets to the organization, and relies upon their need for self-actualization through being a respected member of the organization. If the only reward is through compensation, and individuals do not feel respected or trusted, they will seek to contribute as little as possible while maximizing their monetary compensation or benefits. However, when we treat employees with respect and recognize their need to be a contributing member of the community, their satisfaction at work will come from their pride in their contributions and the sense that they are respected for who they are. This understanding is key in the nonprofit sector where monetary compensation, and often working conditions, do not measure up to the actual worth of the employee or the work that is required of them.

Compensation is only one way to recognize a worker’s abilities, albeit an important one. Nonprofit workers are generally paid less for their skills and talents than those with similar skills and talents in the for-profit sector. Nonprofit leaders must recognize this and create opportunities for staff to feel that they are respected, contributing members of the organization. Creating such a work environment can result in higher employee morale and the desire to align individual goals with organizational goals in service of the mission. It also recognizes that while monetary compensation is important, it is not usually the reason why people come to work for nonprofit organizations. Often people seek out this work based upon their personal values or desire to make a contribution. By recognizing this and creating opportunities for staff to meet this need for self-actualization, we can create a vibrant workplace where employees are engaged and working towards a common goal.

Contingency or Situational Leadership

Finally, we will look at another management theory that is consistent with good social work practice: contingency or situational leadership. This approach to leadership contends that there is no one best way to lead an organization; leadership styles that are effective in one situation may not be effective in another. As social workers, we are taught to approach each individual as unique and to view them within the context of their environment and their individual situation. An astute leader adopts a style of leadership that s/he determines to be best in different situations. Therefore, according to contingency or situational theory the best leadership style is the one that works best in a particular situation that may be dependent upon factors such as:• The skills and abilities of the group members.

• The size and resources of the organization.

• Internal and external environmental factors, the degree of confidence others have in the leader and the leader in her/himself.

• Leader-member relations; degree of confidence, attraction and loyalty of followers.

• The positional power of the leader (ability to reward or punish).

• Hierarchal design of the organization and its ability to adapt to changes in its environment.

Therefore under contingency and situational theories of leadership, effective leaders are those that possess a variety of skills and have the ability to adapt to a changing environment. Successful leaders have the ability to appropriately assess a situation and then adapt their style and skills to fit that situation.

Situational leadership styles depend upon the leaders understanding of the abilities and motivation level of staff, measured by their readiness to perform in any given situation and then use the style that best fits. The situational leadership model suggests that there are four possible styles for a leader to choose from to match the readiness of staff .31 These include:• Delegating Style: When staff have high task readiness based on abilities, willingness and confidence about task accomplishment,

the leader can be confident delegating, thereby allowing the group to take responsibility for task decisions.


• Participating Style: Here, the leader helps staff to share ideas encouraging the development of understanding and confidence. This style is best used when followers are capable but insecure about the tasks that may make them unwilling to take the task on without leadership involvement. This participatory style is based upon a strong relationship between leader and follower.

• Telling Style: The telling style emphasizes task directed behaviors and works best by giving specific task directions and closely supervising work when staff are not confident in their abilities, creating a sense of low task readiness.

• Selling Style: The selling style is recommended for situations where staff may lack capability to perform a specific task, but are willing and/or confident about the task. Here, the leader can provide task guidance through utilizing an approach that is both supportive and persuasive in her/his explanation of task directions.

Contingency theory is an outgrowth of systems theory and looks at the fit between the organizational structure and the environment in which it operates. The leader’s effectiveness is dependent upon her/his leadership style and the specific characteristics of the environment in which the leader functions. This can include the size of the organization; organizational resources; the fit between the design of an organization, its subsystems, and the environment (a successful organization will also maintain fit within and between its subsystems); and, whether the nature of the style of leadership is appropriate to the requirements of the tasks and the abilities of the workgroup.

Fiedler, the creator of contingency theory, labels the successful convergence of leadership styles and the environmental considerations as “situational favorableness.” To achieve this, the effective leader must adapt his/her leadership style based upon the task structure, the leader’s power position and what he labels as “group atmosphere,” which would include the structure of the organization and its subunits and the abilities of the task group. First one must look within the organizational structure to assess whether or not there is a correct fit between the existing structure and the task to be addressed. Does this structure meet the demands of the task or do one or both (organizational structure or task structure) need to be reevaluated or modified to meet the current requirements?

Like situational theory, the contingency model places much weight upon the relationship between the leader and staff. What is the degree of confidence and loyalty that staff have in the leader? This question is relevant to all leadership situations and styles. The more confidence that staff have in the abilities of the leadership and the more loyalty that exists based upon the belief that the leadership acts solely with the best interests of the organization, the greater the willingness of staff to follow and to work toward success. The contingency model also looks at the relative power that the leader holds. In this case power is measured by the leader’s ability to punish or to reward. It recognizes that individuals are motivated by the desire to avoid punishment and seek rewards. However, if we look back at Theory Y, and the belief that people want to feel as though they are contributing members and part of a successful effort with meaning, then that reward can be creating opportunities for people to contribute to the task and recognition of that contribution. Rewards do not have to be thought of as monetary, but can, and should, address the higher level needs that individuals have to know that their efforts are recognized and that they have opportunities to make a contribution to the success of the task and the organization.

Power, Control and Authority

While these are not terms usually associated with social work practice, all leaders must recognize that there is a great deal of power, control and authority that comes with their leadership position. It is how these are wielded that can impact the success and culture of the organization.

Power can be seen as the ability to get others to do things that they would otherwise choose not to do. While it is within the purview of a leader to use power, it must also be recognized that how that power is used, including how often, in what circumstances and how it is presented can cause resentment and reduced quality of work. The power to get people to do things without engaging them in the process should be used sparingly and only when it is determined by the leader that this is the single best way to get a task completed successfully.

According to Weinbach, in The Social Worker as Manager32, authority is “power legitimized by the organization. The organization grants the manager the power to control some of the work related activities of certain other individuals” or tasks. He continues to describe legitimized power as being acquired when “individual staff members or task forces and committees are granted either staff or functional authority, they assume at least some of the power that rightfully belongs to the manager who granted the authority to them. It allows them to do things (for example, make decisions or request the assistance of others) that they otherwise would be unable to do.”33

As addressed earlier, leaders can exert power and control through their ability to punish or reward. Punishment, while an effective tool in the appropriate circumstances, should be used sparingly. The need and the appropriateness of any punishment that is being considered must be weighed very carefully. Punishment can take the form of a poor employee evaluation, a denied promotion or pay increase, a memo in an employee’s personnel record or transfer to another department or to another team or work unit. These are some of the options available to the manager, but an employee should never be chastised in public. If punishment is deemed


necessary, it is a private matter between the manager and the employee and only those others in the organization—such as human resources, the employee’s supervisor, etc.—that must be involved in the action. If punishment is used too often as a control or motivating mechanism it can result in a workforce that is motivated by fear and not by mission or common goals. When people operate out of fear, they are meeting their lower level needs and not addressing their higher level needs for self-actualization, which is often reflected in the quality of work produced.

Failure to perform an assigned task successfully does not automatically call for punishment; instead it can be looked at as a learning opportunity. If staff knows that they will not be punished or reprimanded for failure to be successful, as long as they have made a good faith effort, they will be more willing to take risks and try new things. So rather than seeking to punish an employee for trying but not succeeding, an effective leader sees this as a teachable moment, for both the employee and her/himself. The first task of a reflective leader in such a circumstance is to review the task assignment:• Was it within the abilities of the individual or group to which it was assigned?

• Were the goals realistic within the time frame and resources available?

• Did you provide the support and authority needed to be successful?

Once these questions have been looked at and answered, then an effective leader will utilize a strengths-based approach and work with the employee or group to examine why their efforts did not succeed and what can be done differently in the future, rather than focusing on the failure or lack of success. An effective approach here is to rely on encouraging and supportive language rather than blaming. Some examples of this may include...

Blaming Language:• You should have done...

• You should never have let this happen.

• You have only yourselves to blame.

• This is going to cause enormous problems.

• This must never happen again.

Encouraging/supportive Language:• Let’s examine this one step at a time and look at how the task was approached.

• What could we have done differently?

• It is difficult when things don’t work out, but it has happened to all of us.

• Let’s take a moment and focus on what took place that allowed this to happen.

• Let’s see what we can learn from this and avoid similar things from happening in the future.34

There is a high level of power, control and authority that are accrued to an individual in a leadership position. How these are used can both encourage participation and motivate employees to do their best in service of the organization’s mission, or when wielded in a non-supportive or punishing manner can build employee resentment and take away from motivation to do well. An effective leader understands the limits of her/his power and control and how to utilize their authority in a positive and encouraging manner.

French and Raven in their early research on power delineate five bases of power...35

1. Referent Power: This is based upon the good feeling that the followers have for the leader. Individuals without a formal leadership role may assume a level of informal leadership based upon others’ adoration or respect for that individual.

2. Expert Power: This is based upon the followers’ confidence in or perception of the leader’s competence. Individuals who have an area of expertise that others rely on may become an informal leader as long as others must rely on her/his expertise.

3. Legitimate Power: One accrues this type of power based upon formal job authority. This is the power that comes with a specific position regardless of the person that occupies the position.

4. Reward Power: This power is derived from one’s ability to provide rewards to others.

5. Coercive Power: This is derived from one’s ability to punish or penalize others.

Northouse divides these into two categories : Position Power—which is derived from an assigned office or rank—and Personal Power derived from being seen by others as knowledgeable or likable.36 He categorizes Legitimate, Reward and Coercive power as Position Power, and Referent and Expert power as Personal Power.


Weinbach delineates a menu of methods that a leader/manager can utilize to influence individual and group behaviors within the organization.37 These include, in part:• Plans: They can be used to constrain and control and to set standards for staff shaping outcomes and behaviors in a predetermined

manner. Plans provide a reference point for evaluating outcomes and behaviors. One such example is the agency or departmental budget that can support or disallow specific activities, granting funded activities legitimacy while restricting or disallowing other activities. Other plans that restrict or control activities are rules, policies and procedures, set by the administration or board, that define what is acceptable and what is not. These formal guides serve as reference points for staff defining acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. To be both effective and legitimate, rules, policies and procedures must be objective, readily available to staff and volunteers and utilized across all subunits of the organization.

• Training and Supervision: These are control measures which, when used effectively, help staff to act in specific ways that further the work of the organization. Training can be used to standardize certain behaviors and supervision provides ongoing oversight to help further develop these behaviors in a positive direction. Unfortunately many nonprofit organizations, due to budget constraint, reduce or eliminate training and put the organization and its staff at risk of not performing tasks correctly, which may result in greater costs than providing the appropriate training.

• Staff Performance Evaluations: All employees should undergo periodic reviews of their work to provide feedback and to suggest areas where growth is required. Performance evaluations can also uncover areas where inadequate performance is not the fault of the employee but results from systemic or supervisory problems within the unit or organization. When staff knows that they will undergo periodic performance reviews, most will seek to engage in behaviors that will produce a positive performance review. These reviews however, to be effective, should be based upon mutually agreed upon goals and objectives that the employees’ performance is then measured against. Performance reviews are most effective when staff know in advance what the expectations are and what success looks like.

• Information: In order to successfully function within specific boundaries and in specified ways, staff require appropriate information that provides guidelines for such actions. Leadership should ensure that information is clear and accessible to staff that guides their performance and actions. This includes ethical and legal concerns, clear guidelines on acceptable behavior with other staff from different cultural groups and a policy on sexual harassment. These are just a few areas where information should be available that is clear and unambiguous. Other areas may include contact with the media, dress codes, personnel policies, etc.

• Advice: Administrators and managers have an unequal relationship with their subordinates. As a result of this unequal power relationship, advice given to a subordinate comes with a greater expectation that it will be followed, and consequently has more potential for control than advice that is given between peers. Advice given from a manager/administrator is often intended to shape behavior and can be interpreted by the staff member as a form of a directive to be followed.

• Directives: When control through advice and information does not work, control can be exercised through specific demands, orders or very clear instructions. While used to exert control over specific behaviors, directives can be seen as punitive or even humiliating to some staff. Directives are a method for the leader to regain or exert control over a specific situation or to correct an unacceptable behavior while reasserting one’s authority. Directives can touch upon feelings of powerlessness and be seen as a symbolic slap on the wrist, and should only be used when absolutely necessary to retake control of a situation.

• Negative Sanctions: provide specific information to staff of behaviors that are forbidden and the consequences of these actions. While negative sanctions should be used sparingly, they can be effective because most people will naturally avoid unacceptable behaviors when they know that a significant punishment will be meted out. But negative sanctions must be used sparingly, and only when necessary, to avoid behaviors that could be damaging to the clients or the organization. Negative sanctions have limited use promoting other positive or desired behaviors and can have a severely damaging impact on staff morale and the leader/follower relationship if they are relied on too readily or if these sanctions are seen as too severe or not appropriate to the infraction.

• Leader’s Example: Effective leaders engage in a “parallel process,” whereby the example set through her/his behavior provides guidelines for staff behaviors. The actions, attitudes and values set by the leader in his/her everyday behaviors are perceived as the norms of the group and the standard to be achieved in all interactions, and therefore staff members that want to succeed will try to emulate these. Therefore, leaders must be consistent in their behaviors and always model the actions, attitudes and values that they wish staff to exhibit. “Do as I say and not as I do,” is never an acceptable behavior for an effective leader, manager or supervisor.

Leading The Culturally Competent Organization

An effective leader places diversity and cultural competence as important values for her/his organization. The National Center for Cultural Competence defines organizational cultural competence as...

Cultural competence requires that organizations:• Have a defined set of values, principles, and demonstrate behaviors, attitudes, policies and structures that enable them to work

cross-culturally.


• Have the capacity to...(1) value diversity,(2) conduct self-assessment, (3) manage the dynamics of difference, (4) acquire and institutionalize cultural knowledge,(5) adapt to diversity and the cultural context of the communities they serve.

• Incorporate the above in all aspects of policy making, administration, practice/service delivery and systematically involve consumers/families.

NASW has developed clear guidelines for culturally competent practice in the 2001 publication NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice.38 These standards operationally define cultural competence as:

The integration and transformation of knowledge about individuals and groups of people into specific standards, policies, practices, and attitudes used in appropriate cultural settings to increase the quality of services, thereby producing better outcomes. Competence in cross-cultural functioning means learning new patterns of behavior and effectively applying them in appropriate settings.

The standards then go on to list “five essential elements that contribute to a system’s ability to become more culturally competent.” According to these, the system or organization should:1. Value diversity.

2. Have the capacity for cultural assessment.

3. Be conscious of the dynamics inherent when cultures interact.

4. Institutionalize cultural knowledge.

5. Develop programs and services that reflect an understanding of diversity between and within cultures.

To achieve true cultural competence, “these five elements must be manifested in every level of the service delivery system. They should be reflected in attitudes, structures, policies and services.”

Organizational Implementation

American Humanics has developed a Workforce Development and Inclusion Compact that provides clear guidelines “to help organizations prioritize and provide resources for ensuring the diversity and inclusion.39”

The Compact enumerates an organizational commitment to diversity, throughout all levels of the organization, exemplified by the commitment to put policies and practices in place, such as:• A written anti-discrimination policy approved by the CEO and/or board of directors.

• The CEO has...

(1) Articulated a case for why greater diversity is important to the organization’s mission and performance.

(2) Ensured that strategies are in place that strengthen the diversity of the workplace and build an inclusive work environment.

(3) Dedicated to obtaining the proper resources necessary to achieve results.

• The organization has a diversity and inclusion business plan for achieving a diverse workforce recognizing the mission, constituencies and community served by the organization.

• The administration ensures that racially and ethnically diverse candidates are considered for all job opportunities in the organization to the greatest extent possible.

• The organization seeks out and employs best practices in recruiting, hiring, managing and recognizing diverse employees, and eliminating attitudinal, behavioral, physical and procedural barriers to diversity.

• Implementation of human resource policies and practices for employees that support a fair workplace, including: clear goals and expectations for employees, complete orientation to the organization and their role in it, rewards and recognition based on merit, supervisors who provide coaching and feedback on performance, and opportunities for employee development and advancement.

• Frequent evaluation of the organization’s successes and opportunities in implementing and improving on best practices for a diverse workforce, and commitment to the value of diversity as an ongoing process rather than a task to accomplish.


• Reporting to the board of directors annually on performance toward diversity goals.

While most efforts at achieving a diverse workforce focus on ethnic and racial diversity, these same measures called for above can be applied to achieving a more broadly representative and diverse workforce. Looking at diversity more broadly must include gender, religion, levels of ability and sexual and gender orientation.

However, a broadly diverse workforce, while an important goal for any leader to achieve for her/his organization, is only one pillar in achieving a culturally competent organization. Diversity and cultural competence must be a goal for every aspect of the organization’s operations. It must be infused into the culture and values of the organization so that all employees, board members, volunteers, supporters and consumers understand that this is a priority of the organization.

When evaluating the level of cultural competence of your organization the various types of human diversity must be taken into consideration as well as assessing whether or not your organization, at all of the levels enumerated above, is reflective of the communities that it serves. The University of South Florida, Research and Training Institute for Children’s Mental Health,40 has developed a list of eight domains to be considered when evaluating organizational cultural competence, these are...• Domain 1: Organizational Values

The Organizational Values domain is defined as expressions and actions that illustrate the organization’s perspective and attitudes regarding the worth and importance of cultural competence and commitment to providing culturally competent care. It is an indication of how the organization intends to serve the community appropriately. This includes:

¶ Commitment to cultural competence displayed through documentation.

¶ Staff and administrator belief.

¶ Actions indicative of beliefs.

• Domain 2: Policies / Procedures / Governance The elements of organizational oversight that pertain to establishing goals and policies to ensure the delivery of culturally competent care. It incorporates every aspect of organizational management and governance, including the responsibilities of administrators, the board of directors, and committees, as well as the content of documents, rules, and plans that support culturally competent practices. This includes:

¶ Culturally and linguistically competent policies and procedures.

¶ Governing body’s investment in cultural competence.

• Domain 3: Planning / Monitoring / Evaluation The mechanisms and processes used for the systematic collection of baseline and on-going information about groups served (e.g. needs assessment), along with planning, tracking, and assessment of cultural competence. These include:

¶ Understanding the community/needs assessment. ¶ Cultural competence plan. ¶ Agency demographic data. ¶ Quality monitoring and improvement. ¶ Creation and evaluation of specific programs.

• Domain 4: Communication The exchange of information within different levels of the organization as well as between the organization and the community, target population, and partner organizations. It addresses content (e.g., conceptions of mental health, prevention, stigma reduction, health care planning, and consumer rights), direction of exchange (e.g., community to organization and organization to community), and format and method or frequency (e.g., written documents, radio, television, e-mail, website, community forums). Aspects of this include:

¶ Intra-organizational communication.

¶ Communication with consumers.

¶ Making information available to the public.

• Domain 5: Human Resource Development An organization’s efforts to ensure that staff and other service providers have the requisite attitudes, knowledge, and skills for delivering culturally competent services. It includes requirements for recruitment and hiring (e.g., language/culture), training, coaching and mentoring, supervision and evaluation, and incentives and criteria for retention and promotion that support organizational cultural competence. Areas of concern include:


¶ Recruiting diverse staff. ¶ Retaining and promoting diverse staff. ¶ Cultural competencey training programs. ¶ Evaluation of staff.

• Domain 6: Community and Consumer Participation The engagement of community members, organizations, and clients in planning, implementing, assessing, and adapting organizational cultural competence strategies. The domain represents the extent to which the agency and its members participate in the community, as well as to what degree the community has participation in agency activities (including input into decision-making). Areas to be addressed include:

¶ Agency collaboration with community groups and businesses.

¶ Community and consumer input into services and agency activities.

¶ Staff members/administrators’ personal involvement with community.

• Domain 7: Facilitation of a Broad Service Array The delivery or facilitation of a variety of needed services, including outreach, navigation, translation/interpretation, and bilingual/bicultural services offered equitably and appropriately to all cultural groups served. Areas to be assessed include:

¶ Appropriateness of services. ¶ Accessibility of services.

• Domain 8: Organizational Resources Those resources required to deliver or facilitate delivery of culturally competent services, including financial/budgetary, staffing, technology, physical facility/environment, and alliances/links with community and other partners. It involves both the internal and external resources needed by an organization to support its culturally competent activities in all other domains. Areas of concern include:

¶ Community-based resources. ¶ Database systems. ¶ Financial resources. ¶ Language and communication capacity. ¶ Materials.

However before any leader can ensure that her/his organization is culturally competent, that individual must develop this competence within her/himself.

Okun, Fried and Okun summarizes individual development of cultural competence as: “Looking at intimate, social and public relationships from multiple perspectives, and considering how cultural heritage and current social contexts are intertwined can teach us to consider possible meanings of what we observe and experience in relationships. This kind of sensitivity allows us to be more self-aware and more other-aware, to be more attentive to our own and others’ communicative behaviors, and to be more adaptive in our responsiveness. We need to learn to suspend our assumptions of meaning by listening carefully, questioning others when we are not sure we are understanding, explaining more thoroughly when we fell misunderstood, and reflecting on our experiences and on our interpretations of others’ experiences before jumping to conclusions... Our own values, attitudes and beliefs can enable us to be more open to others’ different values, attitudes and beliefs. This awareness can then lead to appreciating, respecting and valuing these differences.” 41

Ethical Leadership

As social workers, we are bound by the NASW Code of Ethics, which provides guidelines for ethical behaviors in all aspects of our work. When social workers take on administrative and leadership roles in organizations, this code follows us into that role and informs our work and that of the organization. The preamble to the Code of Ethics establishes a working foundation for organizational leaders to guide their work: “The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession’s focus on individual well being in a social context and the well being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living.”


Social workers as organizational leaders “must not only consider the rights and needs of the individual client or client system, but also those of all clients and client systems presently served by the organization as well as those who might be served in the future.”42 In addition to this duty to address the rights and concerns of clients, nonprofit leaders have multiple constituencies who have needs and demands that must be balanced while maintaining an ethical base for the organization. These other constituencies and concerns that must be addressed include staff, funders, regulators, community and political pressures, financial restrictions and resources. These competing demands often lead to ethical dilemmas for organizational leaders that direct practice social workers and clinicians do not face. In almost every decision a leader makes, there are ethical concerns that are implicit or explicit. The choices that are made and how leaders respond to different situations must be informed and guided by their ethical principles.

The two following case examples help to illustrate such dilemmas:

• Case Example 1: A municipal government agency in New York City, in an attempt to reduce costs, notified its funders that program officers would no longer travel to the agency sites to review client records, but funded service providers would now be required to bring these records to the funding agency’s main office for review. These records contained confidential information about the clients and the CEO of ABC nonprofit notified the funder that it had a strict policy forbidding the removal of any confidential information from the premises. Therefore, transporting these documents downtown would not only violate the organization’s confidentiality rules, but it would put the clients at possible risk if any records were lost or stolen in transport. The funding agency threatened to withhold reimbursement on its contract if the information was not sent downtown as requested. The CEO presented this dilemma to the board and notified the funder that the organization had a strict confidentiality policy and that this procedure, as requested, would be in violation. After a protracted period of demands that the information be sent as requested, the funding agency dropped their request and continued to reimburse for the services provided without further requests that the information be sent downtown.

• Case Example 2: The Executive Director of a multi-service organization was negotiating with the chief elected official of the municipality in which the organization was located for a $50,000 contract to expand transportation services. This was a much needed grant that would almost double the number of elderly passengers that could be accommodated for trips to the doctor, shopping and recreational activities. The grant had been verbally awarded and the Director was awaiting the official letter of notification. After being informed that the letter would be generated shortly and the expanded services could begin, the Director received a call from a top aide to the elected official who had approved the grant. The aide requested that the Director testify at a public hearing supporting a specific piece of legislation. After reviewing the proposed legislation, the CEO determined that he could not support the bill and informed the elected official that he was declining the invitation to testify. One week later he received a letter informing him that the grant funds had been cut and that the organization would not receive the $50,000 to expand transportation services.

What makes these two case examples ethical dilemmas is that there is no easy answer. In each case, when the CEO acted in a way that s/he believed to be ethical, a risk was taken. The CEO’s actions could have resulted in loss of precious funding. In fact, in the second scenario, it is quite possible that the refusal to testify did indeed result in the loss of funding for a needed service, while in the first case it appeared that the funding agency made a decision to tacitly accept the organization’s position on confidentiality. Leaders are often faced with similar dilemmas, and must decide how to act based upon their values, ethics and what is best for the organization and its clientele. While the Code of Ethics provides standards to be lived by, it does not provide a road map. One’s actions must be based upon what is believed to be the ethical course of action at that moment in time, and that action should only be taken after weighing the pluses and minuses and the possible ramifications.

Komives, Lucas and McMahon43 have developed a list of working assumptions about ethical leadership that they believe are central to the study and practice of ethical leadership.” Some of these include:

• Ethics is the heart of leadership: Good leadership means leadership that is effective and follows a sound ethical process. The ends do not always justify the means when leading with integrity.

• All leadership is values-driven: This recognizes that organizations and communities are values-driven and not values-neutral. All people, staff, consumers, volunteers and board members bring to the organization their own values and beliefs of how people should be treated. It is incumbent upon the leader to communicate a clear and consistent culture of ethical behavior for the organization.

• Personal values intersect with organizational values: In order to lead ethically, one must examine and be aware of her/his personal values and how these are related to and reflective of the values of the organization. One’s personal values and those of the organization must intersect in the process of ethical decision-making.

• Ethical leadership can be learned: All people learn through their life experiences. As social workers we are trained to be self-reflective and our ethics and values are learned through a process of action, reflection and action. Through this process and through reflecting on personal notions of fairness and justice, we learn to apply consistent ethical standards in any given situation.


• Ethical leadership involves a process between ethical thought and action: Our actions are informed by our ability to engage in moral reasoning that informs our ethical insights and analysis to guide real life experiences.

• Everything we do teaches: Leaders must always be aware that in all of their actions they are constantly serving as role models for acceptable staff behaviors. People learn by watching others, and in doing so make judgments about what is acceptable and not acceptable. Therefore it is incumbent upon effective leaders to actively examine their own assumptions about what is ethical and what is not and use this ethical analysis to guide all behaviors and decisions, while recognizing that you are also engaged in a role modeling process.

Perhaps the role and responsibility of an ethical leader is best summed up by Gini44 when he writes: “Leadership, even when defined as a collaborative experience, is still about the influence of individual character and the impact of personal mentoring. Behavior does not always beget like behavior in a one-to-one ratio, but it does establish tone, set the stage, and offer options. Although to achieve ethical behavior an entire organization, from top to bottom, must make a commitment to it, the model for that commitment has to originate from the top (pg. 354).”

All leadership should strive to be transformational, which involves the ability to assert a uniquely positive form of influence that moves followers (and the organizations that they inhabit) to accomplish more than they individually or collectively believe they are capable of. In other words, transformational leaders have the ability to recognize and address the motives of people in order to help them to better reach their own goals, those of the leader and the organization, moving the individuals and the organization consistently in a positive direction of growth and improved excellence. To be truly transformational, a leader must have strong social and emotional intelligences, and possess the skill sets and knowledge covered in this course. All of these are consistent with good social work practice, providing a strong foundation for social workers as leaders. v

Endnotes

1 Kaye J., Allison M., Support Center for Nonprofit Management (2005) Strategic planning for nonprofit organizations, 2nd edition, San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons.

2 Citizen Media Law Project, Articles of incorporation for nonprofits, accessed 7/15/10 www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/articles-incorporation-nonprofits

3 Ostrower, F. Nonprofit governance in the United States, The Urban Institute, accessed 7/28/10 www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411479_Nonprofit_Governance.pdf

4 Boardsource (2006) The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and implications for nonprofit organizations, www.boardsource.org

5 Boardsource (2006).

6 Joseph, JP, Fiduciary duties of a director and conflicts of interest, accessed 7/27/10 www.cof.org/files/documents/education_collaborations/difficultboards/handout1.pdf

7 Renz. DO, An overview of nonprofit governance, accessed 7/15/10 http://bsbpa.umkc.edu/mwcnl/board%20resources/NP%20Governance%20Overview.pdf

8 McNamara, C (2008) Field guide to developing, operating and restoring your nonprofit board, Authenticity Consulting LLC, Minneapolis, MN

9 Boardsource (2007) The nonprofit board answer book, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco:CA

10 Boardsource (2007).

11 McNamara, C (2008).

12 Bennis, W & Nanus, B (1997) Leaders: Strategies for taking charge, Harper & Row, New York:NY

13 Bennis & Nanus. (1997)

14 Northouse, PG (2010) Leadership theory and practice, 5th ed. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE publications.

15 Patti, R (2003) Reflections on the state of management in social work. Administration in Social Work, 27(2) pg 1-11.

16 Perlmutter, FD & Crook, WP (2004) Changing Hats while managing change, Wash, DC: NASW Press.


17 2007 Leadership Outfitters, Inc. www.leadershipoutfitters.com

18 Albrecht, K (2009) Social Intelligence the new science of success, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco:CA

19 Goleman, D & Boyatzis, R (2008) Social Intelligence and the biology of leadership, Harvard Business review, 9/2008

20 Goleman, D (January, 2004) What makes a good leader, Harvard Business Review.

21 Salovey, P & Mayer, JD (1990) Emotional Intelligence, accessed 7/31/10 www.unh.edu/emotional_intelligence/EIAssets/EmotionalIntelligenceProper/EI1990%20Emotional%20Intelligence.pdf

22 Goleman, D (January, 2004)

23 Ruderman, Hannum, Leslie & Steed (2001) Making the connection, leadership skills and Emotional Intelligence, Leadership in Action, 21(5) pgs 3-7

24 Solavey & Mayer (1990)

25 Felice Davison-Perlmutter, quoted in an interview with Lynne K. Jones, in Social Work Today, Vol. 7, No. 4, pg 22, July/August 2007.

26 Komives, Lucas & McMahon (2007) Exploring Leadership, John Wiley & Sons, San Francisco: CA

27 Komives, Lucas & McMahon, pg 74

28 Komives, et al pgs 86-87.

29 McGregor D (1960) The human side of enterprise, McGraw Hill, New York: NY

30 Theory X and Theory Y, accessed 8/10/10 www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/mcgregor/

31 Hersey, P & Blanchard, KH (1988), Management and Organizational Behavior Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentiss Hall

32 Weinbach, RW (2008) The social worker as manager, Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon

33 Weinbach, pg 228

34 Gill, SJ (2010) Developing a learning culture in nonprofit organizations, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications

35 French JR & Raven B (1959) The bases of social power, in Cartwright, D, ed. Studies in social power, Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research

36 Northouse, PG (2010) Leadership, 5th ed. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications

37 Weinbach, RW (2008) pg 231

38 NASW (2001) NASW standards for cultural competence in social work practice, accessed 8/30/10, www.socialworkers.org/practice/standards/NASWCulturalStandards.pdf

39 American Humanics, Nonprofit Workforce Coalition Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Compact, accessed 8/31/10 www.humanics.org/site/c.omL2KiN4LvH/b.5394397/k.31EB/Diversity_and_Inclusion_Compact.htm

40 Harper, M, Hernandez, M, Nesman, T, et. al (2006) Organizational cultural competence: a review of assessment protocols, University of South Florida Research and Training Institute for Children’s Mental Health, accessed 8/31/10 http://rtckids.fmhi.usf.edu/rtcpubs/CulturalCompetence/protocol/CultCompProtocol.pdf

41 Okun, BF, Fried, J & Fried, ML (1999) Understanding diversity, Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks Cole

42 Weinbach, RW (2008) pg 12

43 Komives, SR, Lucas, N & McMahon, TR (2007) Exploring leadership, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

44 Gini, A (2010) Moral leadership and business ethics, in Hickman, GR ed. Leading organizations perspectives for a new era, 2nd ed., Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.


8. Level five leaders are people who:a. Organize people and resources

toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives

b. Make productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits

c. Build enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will

d. None of the above

9. Research into social intelligence finds that effective leadership is not about the individual accomplishments of the leader, but the ways in which an effective leader motivates and energizes the people whom s/he leads.a. True b. False

10. The following are attributes of socially intelligent leader that are also consistent with good social work practice:a. Empathy, attunement and

inspiration

b. Influence, developing others and teamwork

c. Both a & bd. Neither a nor b

11. The Relational Model of leadership states that:

a. It is the responsibility of the leader to ensure that staff are working together and forming productive working relationships

b. Is purposeful and based upon the leader’s commitment to a goal or activity and her/his ability to force staff compliance

c. Leadership is a process that takes place when people work together to achieve a common goal

d. All of the above

Nonprofit Leadership for Social WorkersPoST TEST— 2 CEs

Please circle 1 correct answer per multiple-choice question.

1. The mission of a nonprofit organization is important because:

a. It clearly articulates the purpose of the organization

b. It states values and beliefs of the organization

c. It determines the activities that the organization can engage in.

d. All of the above

2. The responsibilities of the board of directors include:

a. Hiring and supervising the Executive Director

b. Evaluating staff

c. Making decisions about program operations

d. All of the above

3. Sarbanes-Oxley requires nonprofit organizations to do the following:

a. Conduct an annual audit

b. Use separate firms for auditing and non-auditing and non-auditing accounting services

c. Both a & b

d. Neither a nor b

4. The “duty of care” responsibility of a nonprofit board member includes:

a. Exercising the judgment of a “any prudent person” in decision making

b. Actively preparing for and participating in board meetings

c. Both a & b

d. Nether a nor b

5. Which of the following is an appropriate role for the Executive Director/CEO of a nonprofit?

a. Providing support for the board of directors

b. Financial and risk management

c. Community and Public Relations

d. All of the above

6. The following can sum up the difference between a manager and a leader: The leader is responsible for the mission and vision of the organization while the manager is responsible for focusing on the physical resources of the organization or a part of the organization.a. True

b. False

7. Social workers are well prepared to be effective nonprofit administrators / leaders because:

a. Of their knowledge of programs, clients and service systems

b. Effective leaders must serve as advocates for the constituencies that they serve, while also working for improved social welfare polices and increased resources.

c. Effective leaders seek out input from those affected by their decisions maintaining a focus on staff and client empowerment

d. All of the above


After completing this Post Test and Evaluation, please return both pages to NASW-MA along with your payment. If you scored 80% or better, we’ll mail you 1.5 CEs!

FoCUS CE Course Evaluation—March 2011

Name _________________________________________

Address ________________________________________

City ___________________________________________

State____________________________Zip ____________

Day Phone ______________________________________

NASW Membership # _____________________________

r NASW Member $15 r Non NASW Member $25

Please indicate whether the following learning objectives were achieved:

A. I understand the importance for social work leaders to understand the mission, vision and values in a nonprofit organization. Achieved in full 5 4 3 2 1 Not Achieved

B. I understand the role and responsibilities of the Board of Directors of a nonprofit and its relationship with the Executive Director. Achieved in full 5 4 3 2 1 Not Achieved

C. I can identify the attributes of effective leadership for social workers. Achieved in full 5 4 3 2 1 Not Achieved

D. Please provide comments on current course and suggestions for future courses:

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Please perform the following steps:

u Complete and return Post Test and Evaluation. A score of 80% or better is passing and we will send a certificate of completion to you.

u Please enclose check payable to “NASW” (Sorry, credit cards not accepted for this offer.)

u Send to: NASW, 14 Beacon Street, Suite 409 Boston, MA 02108

15. When social workers move into administrative positions...

a. We are no longer bound by the NASW Code of Ethics

b. The professional identification is as an administrator and no longer as a social worker

c. Both a & b

d. Neither a nor b

12. The difference between Theory X and Theory Y is:

a. Theory Y takes a strengths-based approach to leadership

b. Theory X states that people dislike work and will avoid it whenever possible, while Theory Y states that people seek self-actualization through their work.

c. Theory X calls for tight supervision and implicit threats from leaders, while Theory Y is based upon the belief that given the opportunity people will take responsibility and initiative.

d. All of the above

13. Situational leadership styles depend upon the leaders understanding of the abilities and motivation level of staff, measured by their readiness to perform in any given situation and then use the style that best fits. Some of these styles include:a. Assigningb. Evaluatingc. Coercingd. None of the above

14. The culturally competent organization is one that...

a. Has a defined set of values, principles, and demonstrated behaviors, attitudes, policies and structures that enable staff to work cross-culturally.

b. Ensures that the administrative staff are diverse, reflecting the population served.

c. Both a & bd. Neither a nor b

how it works: read this ce program, complete the post test ...€¦ · a well-defined mission...

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