Week 1
Leadership can be noted as inspiring others to action around a shared vision and management is
controlling, coordinating, and overseeing the organization’s program and other operations
(Lauffer, 2011). Leadership and management include similar characteristics. These
characteristics include drive, self-confidence, flexibility, charisma, professionalism, and vision.
As a leader and management, having these characteristics can help improve work performance
and the performance of the organization.
The differences of leadership and management is power and empowerment. Leaders provide
empowerment as management provides and has more power when it comes to decision making.
Leaders may have more power than others working underneath them, however, their
responsibility is to empower their employees. For example, a leader has positional and personal
power. Positional power can be achieved, and personal power can be developed (Lauffer, 2011).
It is important a leader is able to adjust their behaviors to response effectively to different
situations.
Assuming a supervisory position is challenging. It is important to understand leadership and
management as a supervisor. When I think of a supervisor, I think of someone who is a leader
and empowers others. I also think of someone who manages their clientel and their staff. In order
to continue to keep services going, staff must be present. Supervisors must work with their staff
to help make them feel appreciated. When staff are appreciated, there is less turnovers. Having
the flexibility to help cover shifts when a staff member is sick or on leave, is helpful. However,
supervisors can burn out just as quick as other staff members. Management must provide just as
much support supervisors do to their staff members. That is how a system works together to
better assist clients.
Reference Lauffer, A. (2011). Understanding your social agency (3rd ed.). Washington, DC:
Sage.
Week 2
Analysis of the supervisor’s role in the Phoenix House
The supervisor has the role of supervising four full-time social workers and two social work
interns from a local university. The supervisor’s role is more of a leadership role vs a
management role. She is charged with ensuring staff are performing to goals of the program. She
is also charged with training and mentoring personnel as she has oversight of two interns.
Lauffer explains, leadership focuses on the individual traits of those people identified as leaders
while management focuses on contexts, including the design of work systems and the
organizational arrangements in the workplace. (Lauffer, 2011, pg. 245).
Leadership skills that might help the supervisor resolve the issue.
The issue is child in this case, Daniel has been placed in the program by his mother. The mother
comes to learn that Daniel had no knowledge of how drugs got into his back pack, but the mother
is stuck on teaching her son a lesson of consequences. It has been bought to the mother’s
attention what the purpose of the program is. The mother is insisting Daniel remains in the
program. The mother’s insistence is despite being advised by staff that the program may not be a
good fit for him and that it could can cause him more harm than good. Northouse explains,
skilled leaders are competent people who know the means and methods for carrying out their
responsibilities (Northouse, 2018, pg. 5). Some skills that may assist the supervisor with this
issue are administrative skills, interpersonal skills and conceptual skills. With administrative
skills the supervisor can offer technical competence by providing the mother with competent
knowledge and statics of the effects on children when placed in programs that are not a good fit
for them. Good interpersonal skills can assist Daniel with being able to effectively communicate
with his mother about what really happened at school with the marijuana, as well as assist him
being able to communicate effectively with the mother on a daily basis. Conceptual skills can
assist with problem solving while having an understanding of the parents fears as well as assist
with an developing an alternate plan to assist Daniel and satisfy his mother.
