The Leadership Role of Supervisors

NASW Policy SymposiumNovember 18, 2010

A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a Member of the T/TA Network

www.ncwwi.org A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a Member of the T/TA Network

PartnersUniversity at Albany      Mary McCarthy and      Katharine Briar-Lawson,      Co-Principal Investigators

University of Maryland Nancy Dickinson Project Director

University of Denver      Cathryn Potter

University of Iowa      Miriam Landsman

University of Southern Maine      Freda Bernotavicz

Michigan State University      Gary Anderson

University of Michigan      Kathleen Faller

Fordham University      Virginia Strand

Portland State University Katharine Cahn

National Indian Child Welfare Association      Terry Cross

Children’s Bureau/ACF/DHHS      Randi Walters      Federal Project Officer

SupervisorsThe Talk of the Town

Key socializing agents for workforce Keepers of the culture Support front line practice Manage the workload Manage the vision and values Link between front line and senior

management. Create the climate of possibility Cornerstone of the workplace

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Supervisory Roles

Education Administration Support Leader??

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www.ncwwi.org A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a Member of the T/TA Network

Leadership PillarsAdaptive(Heifetz &

Linsky, 2002)

Collaborative

Distributive(Spillane,

2006)

Inclusive(Ryan, 2006)

Outcome Focused

Learning new ways for dealing with challenges

Community engagement

Leadership encouraged and enacted at all organizational levels

Collective process to promote inclusion

Meeting organizational and professional goals

Challenges own and other people’s habits, beliefs, and values

Creates opportunities for collaboration outside agency

Distribution of decision-making and leadership responsibilities

Advocates for a full range of participants in the process (diverse participation)

Applies technical knowledge

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Change Agentry

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Leadership Academy for Supervisors

Goal: To develop leadership skills for implementation of change.

Audience: Experienced supervisors in public, tribal & private agencies that provide child welfare services.

Method: Online, self directed learning with follow up sessions in real time.

www.ncwwi.org A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a Member of the T/TA Network

Competing Priorities

Change… and keep order

Make the numbers…. and nurture your staff

Open up to the community…. and manage internal operations

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www.ncwwi.org A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a Member of the T/TA Network

LAS Core Curriculum1. Introductory Module2. Foundations of Leadership3. Leading in Context: Building

Collaboratives4. Leading People: Workforce Development5. Leading for Results: Accountability6. Leading Change: Goal-Setting

In Their Own Words

The material was very good and very relevant to our job.

The assignments were very valuable to me as they made me think more specifically about what kind of leader I am and what I hope to develop into as a leader. The assignments helped me understand what is involved in making these changes happen.

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Current Work Environment

Workload Time Demands for Accountability Professional development-usually

focused on job specific training vs. development.

Time for Reflection Learning Formatwww.ncwwi.org A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a Member of the T/TA Network

www.ncwwi.org A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a Member of the T/TA Network

It is a fantastic program and the information is great…. Again having/finding time to do everything is the problem.

 Between vacation, losing a worker, and a fatality, with only 3 workers and being director/supervisor, it has been a very challenging time for us. I plan on doing it.

The hardest part is that since it is online and I have time to schedule it whenever, it gets put on the backburner when I have other work constantly coming that has to get done ASAP.

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I know it is the wave of the future, but I do not care for web based training and teleconferences.

I think there is a lot of valuable information to be learned from this. It is very overwhelming to tackle large assignments with all our other obligations.

I recommend it to others. It realistically identifies the changes/challenges being faced by today’s social workers.

Summary The quality of casework, the positive

outcomes of service delivery, the successful recruitment and retention of workers and the ability of the organization to function in times of change and stress depend on the recognition, development and affirmation of supervisors as crucial organizational and community leaders. (LAS Introductory Module) www.ncwwi.org A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a Member of the T/TA

Network

www.ncwwi.org A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a Member of the T/TA Network

Special Thanks to Freda Bernotavicz and Sue Ebersten, LAS leaders for their guidance in preparing for today.

For More informationwww.ncwwi.org