Abstract
The concept of leadership has always been a subject of interest from ancient times to the present. The requirement for different types of leadership styles has emerged over time due to the change and innovation taking place in the organizations, and therefore, new leadership approaches have been established as a result. The aim of this study is to examine the concept of social work leadership, as a new leadership approach, and present a general framework within the scope of the studies conducted on social work leadership. Within this context, the concepts of leadership, social work, and social work leadership have been addressed, the competencies required by the social work leaders have been reviewed, and the studies conducted with respect to social work leadership were discussed. As a result of a comprehensive literature review, it was concluded that the studies regarding social work leadership were not sufficient, and the existing studies underline the lack of interest in leadership in the field of social work and make a call for leadership accordingly.
TopResearch Methodology
This study has been prepared using the systematic review method. The first step to conduct a systematic review is to formulate specific key questions that will lay the basis of a research (Robinson & Lowe, 2015, p.103). In this context, ‘who is a social work leader and what competencies should he/ she have’ are the key questions laying the basis of this study. After the research question and framework were determined, the concept of leadership and the significance of the concept of leadership, service, social work, social work leadership, and the competencies of social work leaders in the current literature were reviewed and the findings obtained were organized systematically.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Leadership: It is the process of effectively directing employees towards the goal in order to achieve the goals of the organization.
Leadership of Social Work: It is the process of motivating the followers by the social work leaders to achieve the goals of the organization.
Social Work: It is to enable the individual to develop social functions alone or within the group in order to further increase the well-being of people and to reduce any inequality between people.
Principles of Social Work: These are the principles availed by social work in order to achieve its goals.
Service: It is the process of satisfying the requirements of people in need.