Monday Morning Managers: Leadership Qualities and Career Pathways: An Exploratory

Study

Presenters: Linda Helm, PhD and Richard Boettcher, PhD

June 17, 2016

Presented to

The Network for Social Work Management’s 27th Annual Conference of the Network for Social

Work Management: Grand Challenges for Social Work Management and Leadership

The California Endowment

1000 N. Alameda St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

* This paper is a draft and not intended, in its present form, for duplication or publication. However, permission to cite or quote from its contents is freely given by the authors. helm.28@osuedu, boettcher.1@osu.edu

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Monday Morning Managers: Leadership Qualities and Career Pathways, an Exploratory

Study by Linda Helm, PhD and Richard Boettcher, PhD

Introduction

Leadership and management have been salient and significant topics of study within the

profession of social work since its earliest inception in the late 19th century (Austin, 2000). In

July 2014, the Network for Social Work Management initiated a weekly blog series entitled

“Monday Morning Manager” featuring the autobiographical accounts of the history and

experiences of actual practicing social work managers. The authors of the current study

recognized that these brief but rich autobiographical essays could be collated into a data set

which might be responsive to several questions of significance to those who practice, study,

and/or teach about social work leadership and administration. Therefore, and with the

encouragement and assent of the Network for Social Work Management (NSWM), we designed

and executed a mixed methods research study of the content of the first 50 Monday Morning

Managers. This paper discusses the scope, methods, and findings of our exploratory study and

offers some suggestions for additional research. Since concluding our data gathering on the first

fifty managers, the blog series has continued on a weekly basis, and as of this writing, a second

cohort of at least 50 subjects soon will be available for study and analysis. The authors hope that

other researchers will be motivated to study and analyze subsequent cohorts of managers

featured in this blog series, and that our initial study will serve as a baseline for further research.

The field needs to know more about social work managers, the path to social work management,

and how they practice in these positions. Taken collectively, the NSWM blog series shines a

light on the answers to these questions.

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Purpose and Rationale

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, employment of social work managers is

projected to grow twenty one percent or by 27,700 positions between 2012 and 2022 (U.S.

Bureau of Labor, 2015). The increasing social service labor market will require an increase in

trained social work managers over the next decade. Additionally, complex social problems,

higher demands of services, and limited budgets will require social work managers with a greater

variety of management skills. With these demands in mind, the social work profession will be

required to address education and training needs.

In the social work profession, managers are typically recruited from front-line direct

practice positions. Several authors have questioned whether direct service skills are transferable

to management or include the variety of skills required by managers (Knee & Folsom, 2012;

Shank, Lundstrom, & Bergmark, 2014). Students who aspire to practice as managers can receive

educational preparation from the macro or administrative tracks in MSW programs, Masters of

Public Administration degree programs, or other types of formal management education such as

a master’s in business. However, social work schools report that student interest in the

administrative track has been and continues to be very much lower than interest in preparation

for clinical social work practice. This strong proclivity for clinical preparation flies in the face of

fairly strong empirical evidence which shows that a high proportion of clinically prepared social

workers will assume some significant management and administrative roles in their first, and

increasingly, in their second jobs following the acquisition of the MSW degree. (Boettcher &

Burke, 2000)

This research focuses on social work managers’ qualities, leadership and motivational

strategies and mentoring and networking influences as it relates to their career path to

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management as revealed in their autobiographical blogs. Patti (2000) has observed that we

suffer from an extreme lack of research on how social workers are prepared for management

roles and, especially, how differential pathways to management may lead to differential levels of

effective leadership. From our study of the Monday Morning Manager Blog series, it is the

authors’ purpose to contribute sound and useful information about a range of knowledge and

skills required for effective social work management.

Scope of Study

As noted above, the study cohort was taken from the weekly Monday Morning Manager

Blog Series sponsored by the Network for Social Work Management (NSWM). These

autobiographical blogs are posted on the NSWM website and available to the general public.

NSWM is an international organization with a mission to advance social work management and

leadership in health and human services. The organization provides networking and education

opportunities for those interested in developing management competencies. Each week a

manager is featured in the blog series that it is believed will be an example to others striving to

improve their management skills. An application for the highlighted manager must be completed

and, if selected, the manager is supplied with a series of blog questions which the author is

invited to use as a guideline for the essay. What follows is the series of Monday Morning

Manager Blog Questions:

1. Number of years in management; current employer, title

2. Degree(s) and institutions:

3. Please provide a short bio (50 words).

4. Tell us about your path to management.

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5. What leadership qualities do you find to be the most effective in reaching your

organizational or career goals?

6. How do you motivate team members?

7. Is there a leader or mentor who has inspired or assisted you along your professional

journey?

8. What do you wish you had known before you started your career?

9. How has networking impacted your career?

10. What are you reading and/or following now (e.g. book, blog, social media groups,

etc.)?

11. What advice do you have for those beginning their professional journey or who are

already in leadership positions?

12. Do you have an initiative or project you would like to tell our readers about?

13. Share a mistake or failure that provided the most growth in your career.

14. Where can people reach you for questions (social media profiles such as LinkedIn,

Face Book or Twitter; email or phone)?

Since all profilers are invited to address the same set of questions, our focal descriptive

variables include: gender, degrees, years in management, licensure, previous and current

employment position, type of agency, field of practice, career path to management, leadership

qualities, management/motivational strategies, personality traits, mentor type, and network

benefits. Additionally, we were guided by the following research questions:

1. How does degree type and employment history influence career path?

2. Does a relationship exist between favored leadership qualities and career path?

3. Does a relationship exist between management/motivational strategies and career path?

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4. Does a relationship exist between favorite mentors and career path?

5. Does a relationship exist between networking sources and career path?

Obviously the study sample is self-selected and purposive, not randomly drawn or

necessarily representative of the universe of social work managers. However, the findings from

this study have the potential to give direction and guidance to the execution of a larger

systematic study of the membership of NSWM.

Methods

To begin the study of the Monday Morning Managers Blog, the researchers read,

separately and independently, the first ten managers of the MMMs Blog. Next, and following an

extensive discussion of the 10 “pilot” subjects, we assembled a data collection form upon which

we could record the data of interest. With our data schedule in hand, we proceeded to read and

carefully examine each profile privately and independently as they were published. Next we met

each week to discuss the content of our data schedules which we had completed independently.

Some of the variables such as “current position,” “agency auspice,” “field of practice” were

reasonably objective and not subject to much interpretation or dispute. Other variables, such as

“favored leadership qualities” or “favored approaches to motivating staff” required extensive

discussion before agreement was reached between the authors. It was our intent to enhance

reliability through these face-to-face, discussion-based conferences, which consumed

approximately fifteen hours of collaborative time from both authors to complete fifty profiles.

The data were subsequently entered into SPSS and both descriptive and multivariable analysis

completed.

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Study Findings: Quantitative

The first 50 MMM’s consist of 17 males and 33 females. The MSW is the predominant

degree whereas 32 have the MSW only, 2 have the BSW only, 4 possess the BSW and MSW, 8

the MSW and social work PhD, and 3 the PhD in social work only. There is one blogger with no

social work degree. There are 17 current executive directors, 26 middle managers, 5 front line

supervisors and 3 staff specialists. No MMM reports being a “clinician” currently, but 35

indicate that they have had significant clinical or direct practice experience in the course of their

careers. In terms of the auspice of the current employing organization, there are 24 managers

who work for a private, not-for-profit agency, 6 working for a public non-profit, 11 work for

educational institutions, and 9 work for proprietary, for-profit organizations. Mental health and

addictions is the modal field of practice (30%) followed by higher education (18%). Aging,

management consulting, community development/housing, and criminal justice are evenly

represented (Tables 1, 2, 3).

Table 1. Summary of Demographic and Descriptive Data (n=50)Gender Degrees BSW+ MSW MSW+ SWPhDM F No SW Degree BSW Only MSW Only PhD Only17 33 1 2 4 32 8 3

Years of Management Service Licensed?

.> 10 4-9 1-3 Yes Unknown 27 17 4 21 29

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Table 2. Current and Previous Positions Held by Monday Morning Managers (n=50)Positions Current Previous

Executive Director 17 14

Middle Manager 26 31

Frontline Supervisor 5 21

Staff Specialist 2

Direct Service Practioner/ Clinician

0 37

Table 3. Auspices and Practice Fields of Current Organization (n=50) AuspicePublic Not for Profit Private Not for Profit For Profit Educational Institution 6 24 9 11 Fields of PracticeMH/Addict. Ch.Wel. Aging Crim.Justice Manag.Consul CO/Housing HiEd Other

15 3 4 6 5 3 9 5

There is a direct and significant positive association between years of management

experience and the level of the MMMs current positions. No one with one to three years of

management experience reports being an executive director, although 5 are middle managers.

No one with ten+ years of experience reports being a front- line supervisor, and 15 and 12 are

middle managers or executive directors respectively. The modal category of experience among

these MMM’s is ten+ years. (Table 4)

Table 4. Years in Management and Level of Current Position (n=50)

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Years in Management

Current Position Level

1-3 Years

4-9 Years

10+ Years

Front Line Middle Manager ExecutiveSupervision or Staff Specialist Director f % f % f % Total

1 (20) 5 (18) 0 (0)

4 (80) 8 (29) 5 (29)

0 (0) 15 (53) 12 (71)

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17

27

Totals 5 (100) 28 (100) 17 (100) 50

The relationships between professional degree and type of employing institution among

our subjects appear fairly typical. Those subjects possessing the BSW or BSW and MSW or

MSW only are employed primarily by nonprofit agencies (66%) whereas those with the MSW

and PhD or PhD only are more often employed by educational institutions (55%). A significant

number (21%) of those with the BSW and MSW degrees are employed by for-profit companies,

whereas only one with the PhD is so employed (Table 5).

Table 5. Professional Social Work Degrees and Auspice of Current Employment (n=49)*

Degrees Nonprofit Educational For Profit (public and private) Institution Company f (%) f (%) f (%) Total %BSW onlyMSW onlyBSW and MSW 25 (66) 5 (13) 8 (21) 38 (100)

MSW and PhDSW PhD Only 4 (36) 6 (55) 1 (9) 11 (100)

*One subject has no social work degree

One of our more interesting findings has to do with the variable which we defined as

“subject’s path to management”. A total of 35 (70%) started as clinicians or direct service

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providers after social work education and before taking their first management positions. But 12

(24%) took an undergraduate or graduate degree in social work and went directly into

management in their first position after completing schooling. This finding is certainly

consistent with the widespread belief in the field that direct practice or clinical experience is

either necessary or desirable preparation for a career in human service management. And, on the

other hand, this finding suggests that a substantial number of newly minted social workers can

and do enter into significant managerial roles after schooling without ever engaging in direct

service practice. The career pathways for 3 bloggers were indeterminate or unique (Table 6).

Table 6. Subjects Paths to Management (n=50) Frequency %U/G or G degree in SW—direct service—first management 33 66

U/G or G degree Not in SW—directservice—first management 2 4

UG or G degree in SW—first Management 12 24

Other path 1 2

Indeterminate 2 4

Total 50 100

MMMs are invited to explain in their autobiographical essays the kind of leadership

qualities and characteristics which they use or demonstrate to those whom they serve as

supervisors, managers and leaders. From our careful study of the first fifty blogs, we were able

to discern two distinctly different leadership modes or styles favored by our subjects. The first

style, which we termed “personal interaction”, reflects a primary focus on expressed personality,

including such behavioral expressions as passion, projecting vision, creativity, collaborative

style, trustworthiness, and being organized and efficient. The second type of leadership favored

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by some of the managers reflects style which is primarily focused on aspects of organizational

culture and includes such activities as alliance building, staff education and development,

creating a shared vision, collaborative decision making and problem solving. We termed this

approach the “organizational culture/structure” style. A total of 13 managers (26%) exclusively

favored a “personal interaction” approach to leadership and 10 (20%) expressed a primary focus

on the “org. culture/structure” style. Significantly, 26 managers (52%) endorsed both

approaches to leadership (Table 7).

Table 7. Focus of Leadership Qualities Favored by Subjects (n=50) Frequency %Focus primarily on aspects of expressedpersonality and/or style (e.g. passion,project vision, creativity, collaborative style,trustworthiness, organized, efficient) 13 26

Focus primarily on aspects of org. culture,structure or process (e.g. alliance building,staff development, creating shared vision,collaborative decision making and/orproblem solving) 10 20

Both 26 52

Unclassifiable 1 2

Totals 50 100

Similarly, when asked to explain their approaches to motivating staff, it was possible to

factor out two distinctly different approaches favored by our subjects. The first pattern favored

the use of personal interaction to help build and sustain worker motivation. The second approach

found in the blog was primarily focused on structural arrangements. Only 6 managers (12%)

indicated that they primarily seek to motivate staff through praise, recognition, brainstorming,

and positive affirmation, i.e., the “personal interaction” approach, whereas, 15 (30%) subjects

say that they rely primarily on “structural arrangements” such as building team morale,

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individualized professional development, empowering staff to work independently, and building

communication systems to support self-motivation, for example. Significantly, 25 (50%)

subjects made clear through the blog that they use both personal interaction and aspects of

organizational structure to sustain a motivated staff. Interestingly, 3 subjects parried off the

invitation to discuss their approaches to motivating staff on the grounds that their staffs were

professionals who were inherently motivated to fulfill the mission of their employing

organizations (Table 8).

Table 8. Subjects Favored Approaches to Motivating Staff (n=50) Frequency %Primarily through personal interaction (e.g.praise, recognition, brainstormingcollaboratively, positive affirmation) 6 12

Primarily through structural arrangements (e.g.focus on team to support each other, focus onindividualized professional development,empower staff to work independently, create monitoring and communication systemsto support self-motivation) 15 30

Both 25 50

None: staff already motivated 3 6

Unknown 1 2___

Total 50 100

Currently, there is a great deal of interest and research by personality psychologists on

the so-called “Big 5” personality traits of extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness,

emotional stability and openness to new experience. Through a very large number of studies,

these five traits have been found to be related strongly to work performance, task performance,

team performance, and successful leadership. People scoring high in extraversion, agreeableness

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and in openness to new experience are more likely to become leaders than those who manifest

less of these qualities (Greenberg & Baron, 2008). Although the subjects of this study were not

asked to comment specifically on these elements of personality, as we studied each essay we

made note on our data gathering forms of the extent to which any of these characteristics were

evident in the bloggers descriptions of themselves. Conscientiousness was inferred to be present

in 58% of the subjects, agreeableness in 64% and openness to new experience, 96%. It was, of

course, impossible for us to directly observe or infer anything about the extraversion/introversion

and emotional stability traits as they doubtless operate in our subjects (Table 9).

Table 9. Percent Subjects Self-Identified Qualities of the “Big 5” Personality Traits, Directly or Inferred (n=50)

%Conscientiousness 58 (n=21)

Agreeableness 64 (n=32)

Seeks new experience 96 (n=48)

Extraversion/Introversionand Emotional Stability Impossible to Determine

Study subjects were invited to identify mentors who had guided them to leadership roles

in forging their paths to management. We classified this information in terms of the “locus” of

the mentor in the subject’s career path., i.e., college professor, field instructor, work supervisor

or higher level administrator or some combination of these intersections or sites. Table 10 shows

the locus of these “primary mentors”. The work place supervisor or agency director was clearly

most often the source of this guidance and inspiration (42%), whereas college professors (8%)

and agency field instructors (2%) were cited no more often than persons outside of these two

realms such as pastors, political and community leaders, for example. However, 28% of the

subjects did give equal credit to both work and social work school personnel as a combined

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source of guidance into management. Nevertheless, when designating a primary mentor, the

workplace wins out as a source for this important resource in terms of career building (Table 10).

Table 10. Locus of Primary Mentors Who Have Guided Subjects to Leadership Roles? (n=50). Frequency %Work related directoror supervisor 21 42

College professor 4 8

College field instructor/supervisor 1 2

Some combination ofWork and school 14 28

Other 4 8

Not Declared or indeterminate 6 12__

Total 50 100

The first 50 MMM’s readily acknowledge and sing praises to the widespread practice of

networking in its myriad forms. Forty five Managers (90%) enthusiastically acknowledge that

networking has impacted their careers. Benefits derived from networking as documented by

study subjects include various personal gains such as finding new jobs, making new friends, and

career advancement. Networking is also valued by the bloggers for contributions to

organizational funding, decision making and knowledge or information acquisition (Tables 11,

12).

Table 11. Has Networking Impacted Your Career? (n=50) Frequency %Yes 45 90

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Not mentioned 5 10__

Total 50 100

Table 12. How Has Networking Impacted Your Career? (n=50) FrequencyPersonal benefit (new jobs, friends, advancement) 30

Organizational benefit (funding, decision making, communications) 30

Knowledge/information acquisition 26

Combination of above 4

No mention of networking impact 5

As mentioned earlier, we were interested in exploring the relationships of our subjects’

differential career paths to management and their favored styles of leadership and favored

approaches to motivating staff. Table 13 and 14 shows that those who came into management

without experience in direct social service tend to favor a primary organizational focus on

leadership (creating shared vision, developing culture, structure and process) when compared to

those whose pathway to management included direct social service experience (36% to 14%).

On the other hand, those following the direct service pathway to management showed a strong

and dominant tendency to favor using both interpersonal and organizational leadership strategies

and techniques when compared to the non-direct practice cohort (60% to 36%).

Table 13. Paths to Management and Auspice of Current Employer (n=47)*

Paths to Management Auspice: Non-profits For-profit and Educational Organizations Companies

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f (%) f (%) Total %Via Direct Service 30 (86) 5 (14) 35 (100)

No Direct Service 10 (83) 2 (17) 12 (100)

*Path to management unique or indeterminate in 3 cases.

Table 14. Paths to Management and Favored Approaches to Leadership (n=46).*

Paths to Management Leadership Orientation Favored Favored Interpersonal Organizational Both f (%) f (%) f (%) Total (%)Via Direct Service 9 (26) 5 (14) 21 (60) 35 (100)

No Direct Service 3 (27) 4 (36) 4 (36) 11 (99)

Total 12 9 25 46

*Unable to classify in 4 subjects.

With regard to approaches to motivating staff, there is a slight difference between the two

pathways with more former direct service subjects favoring primarily interpersonal approaches.

However, with regard to favoring organizational approaches or using both types of motivational

resources, the two groups did not differ substantially (Table 15).

Table 15. Paths to Management and Favored Approaches to Motivating Staff (n=45)* Favored Approaches to Motivating StaffPaths to Management Personal Interaction Org. Structure Both f (%) f (%) f (%) Total (%)Via Direct Service 5 (15) 11 (32) 18 (53) 34 (100)

No Direct Service 1 (9) 4 (36) 6 (55) 11 (100)

*Unable to classify in 5 subjects.

As mentioned earlier, our subjects more often designated personnel in their work

environments as mentors who encouraged them to pursue a career in social service management.

School personnel seemed to be a distant second in this regard. However, when locus of

significant mentor is cross-tabbed with the pathway variable, those with no direct practice

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experience are equally likely to mention school (33%) and work (33%) as sources of mentoring

in this regard. For those with direct service experience the work place is the predominant source

of mentoring toward a role in management (59%). This difference suggests that subjects of our

study may receive different types of career advisement from faculty or staff when they were

students. Or, it may mean that, owing to existing predilections toward leadership, our subjects

were attracted to faculty and staff willing to promote the idea that one need not become a

caseworker or clinician before entering social work management (Table 16).

Table 16. Paths to Management and Locus of Significant Mentors (n=39)*Paths to Management Locus of Significant Mentors Work School Both Total (%) f (%) f (%) f (%)Via Direct Service 16 (59) 1 ( 3) 10 (37) 27 (99)

No Direct Service 4 (33) 4 (33) 4 (33) 12 (99)

Total 20 5 14 39

*Impossible to classify or neither work nor school related (e.g. mother, Socrates, brother, etc.) in 11 subjects.

Study Findings: Qualitative

The qualitative portion of the study sought to explore and describe the fifty MMM’s

response to the question: What advice do you have for those beginning their career AND/OR

what do you wish you had known before you started your career?

The data were analyzed using qualitative methods and values in order to add context to

the quantitative data. Qualitative research and analysis focuses on the smaller details, patterns,

and themes. The ethnographic data were analyzed through the method of thematic analysis with

a collective comparison approach. As described by Glesne (2006), this method of analysis is a

deductive process that involves coding themes and concepts through a collective comparison

process. “Thematic analyses move beyond counting explicit words or phrases and focus on

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identifying and describing both implicit and explicit ideas within the data, that is, themes”

(Guest, MacQueen & Namey, 2012, p. 13).

The two researchers analyzed the data individually and then through a collective

discussion. A coding sheet was developed that included the verbatim responses of all fifty

MMM’s. Then each researcher coded the themes of each respondent and then extracted general

themes from all fifty responses for the group of MMM’s. Finally the two researchers compared

and contrasted their individually developed themes and synthesized these themes into a

collectively agreed upon final group of themes (Table 17).

The themes were divided into three categories: Advice of a Personal Nature, Advice of a

Professional Nature, and Advice of an Organizational Processes/Dynamics Nature.

Within the Advice of a Personal Nature, two themes occurred. The themes are the

Character of the Leader and Self-Care and Development. The Character of the Leader is

comprised of qualities, disposition, values, and actions reflective of ethical leadership. The

personal qualities to be cultivated that will support this behavior can be exemplified from the

following statements.

“Be kind and Patient. Be humble, genuine, open, and honest. It’s not about you so

don’t be power hungry. Show that you value others and at the same time follow own

values. Do not fear failures…learn from it. We learn more from failure than success. Be

open to new ways of thinking. Be flexible. Emulate qualities you admire in other leaders;

have good mentors. Take initiative. Be bold. Have courage. ”

Table 17. Themes from the question: What advice do you have for those beginning their career AND/OR what do you wish you had known before you started your career?Advice of a Personal Nature Advice of a Professional Nature Advice of an Organizational

Processes/Dynamics Nature

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The Character of the Leader Communication Internal

Self-care and development Leadership External

Professional Development

Skills and Knowledge

Networking and Partnership

Self-Care and Development is comprised of advice directing one to take care of

themselves personally, as well as to support personal growth. The following statements are

examples of personal qualities to be cultivated that will support self-care and development

behavior.

“Be kind to yourself and strive for balance between your work and personal lives.

Be kind and patient with yourself. Do what you love. Keep your passion.”

Within the Advice of a Professional Nature, five themes occurred: Communication,

Leadership, Professional Development, Skills and Knowledge, and Networking and Partnerships.

Communication is advice about how to interact with colleagues in the workplace. The qualities

that will support communication are supported by the following statements.

“Ask for responsibility. Our use of language is how we empower others so be

sensitive to usage and clarity in the meanings you intend to get across. Keep your boss in

the loop. Build a relationship with him or her. Do not disconnect from your staff once

promoted to manager. Be an effective communicator.”

The Leadership theme provides advice for behaviors that support leadership. The MMMs

provided the following statements regarding the qualities and behaviors to be cultivated that

support leadership.

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“Establish a committee of experts to advise you. Learn from other leaders…watch

them, especially the more experienced. Everything you do is a potential learning

experience. Exceed expectations. Develop leaders around you. Value your staff. Use

them. Delegate them. Build teams, you cannot lead alone. Leadership is tough work,

fraught with heavy demands. Change takes time and is always resisted.”

Professional Development provides guidance towards professional development within a

social work management position. The MMMs provided support and encouragement for

professional development in social work management through the following statements.

“Seek professional development. Read widely. Learn from those around you and

commit to learning. Seek professional development opportunities and look for new and

innovative ways of doing things. Join professional organizations and be involved with

them as a volunteer. Seek out professional organizations that can keep you abreast of

what is current in your career. My path to management began immediately following

graduation”

Skills and Knowledge is the theme that focuses on advice for the skills and knowledge

required in a management position. Skills and knowledge as necessary in social work

management was supported by the following statements.

“Seek good supervision. Know how to start a not-for-profit organization. Take

management courses. Read, Read, Read”

Networking and Partnerships theme is advice about the importance of networking and

partnerships within and between organizations. The personal qualities to be cultivated that

support networking and partnerships can be exemplified from the following statements.

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“Develop a network and stay aligned with your values. Talk with colleagues.

Seek advice and counsel. Do not isolate yourself. [Professional organizations are] a good

source of valuable networks.”

Within the Advice of an Organizational Processes/Dynamics Nature, two themes

occurred: Internal and External Processes and Dynamics. The Internal theme focuses on

behaviors that promote internal processes and dynamics of healthy organizations. The personal

qualities to be cultivated that support the development of internal processes and dynamics of

healthy organizations can be exemplified from the following statements.

“Always keep the organizational mission and vision in front of you. Agencies

need to be more creative, flexible, evidence-based, and outcome driven. Keep vision and

mission in the forefront. Understand your role and the roles of those within the agency.

Be strategic in organizational matters. Focus on your job and not on others. Be task

oriented.”

The External theme focuses on communication, dynamics, and processes between the

organization and other systems. The personal qualities to be cultivated that support the

development of external processes and dynamics of healthy organizations can be exemplified

from the following statements.

“Know the culture of your agency and the community. Significant changes can

only be achieved at the macro level. Develop solutions. For young people entering the

field or beginning their first leadership role, stay entrepreneurial. Be aware of external

pressures such as Obama Care, home health networks, etc. Keep up with industry news,

trends, and government policy.”

Discussion

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Before offering any discussion or interpretation of the quantitative and qualitative

findings reported in the preceding paragraphs, we need to remind the reader that we are working

with a small sample of convenience whose representative qualities are simply unknowable.

Therefore, any statements made in the ensuing discussion about the reported data and

observations should be regarded as hypotheses subject to further and more rigorous

investigation. As the title of this paper indicates, this study is “exploratory” in both purpose and

substance and one purpose of an exploratory study is to generate hypotheses for subsequent and

more rigorous designs (Kerlinger, 1973).

However, there is one exception to the above disclaimer that we feel confident is a

conclusion that applies unanimously to our study cohort: our study MMM’s are a very likable,

positive minded and competent set of social work managers. Through their autobiographical

essays, these managers consistently bring forth positive and affirming attitudes toward their

work, the staffs they lead and the profession they represent. Their stories are uplifting in a very

human sense and, collectively, these stories offer a very cogent argument for why we need social

workers to manage human service organizations at all levels.

The demographics of the study cohort offered very little that would distinguish it from

almost any other grouping of social work managers. Females outnumber males 2:1; the MSW is

the predominant degree; persons with a doctorate tend to gravitate toward educational

institutions, and the standard fields of practice are represented in the study universe. One

noteworthy characteristic of the group was the finding that 9 managers (18%) are employed by

proprietary, for profit human service organizations. An earlier study of 468 social workers

reports proprietary employment ranging from13 to 18 % depending on whether the focus is on

first or second jobs after graduation. (Boettcher and Burke, 2000) This finding reflects a larger

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trend in the human service realm, namely, the increasing privatization of human services

delivered by proprietary agencies.

Another finding of interest is the positive relationship between years of managerial

experience and level of management position currently held (Table 4). This is obviously an

expected finding, but worthy of highlighting since an inverse or no relationship would have

defied explanation.

Most of our essayists (n=35 or 70%) report that their paths to first management jobs were

preceded by positions in which they provided direct service to client systems. This is consistent

with conventional understanding that most social welfare managers have been trained by

education or experience or both in direct service practice rather than in management

specializations. However, it is very interesting to note that 12 of our subjects went directly into

management positions absent any direct service or clinical experience. According to the

conventional wisdom of the field, entering management sans direct practice experience is not

well countenanced and, from the experience of the authors, following such a pathway is strongly

disapproved of by many social work faculty, field instructors and school or department

administrators. Given the well documented decline over the past several decades in the numbers

of social workers employed in high level leadership and supervisory positions today (Patti, 2000

p.16), it would behoove the profession to study these “outliers” more closely in order to learn

what they, and others like them, have gone through to advance their careers in this somewhat

unorthodox manner.

The “path to management “variable as we have defined it, is associated with approaches

to leadership favored by this cohort of managers. That is, a higher proportion of managers (36%

to 14%) who came directly into management positions without direct service practice experience

23

favor an organization focus as their PRIMARY orientation to leadership than do those managers

who have direct service in their professional backgrounds. On the other hand, a higher

proportion of managers (60% to 36%) with direct service in their professional backgrounds tend

to favor BOTH an interpersonal and an organizational focus when it comes to describing their

primary approaches to leadership. (Tables 14, 15.) Another study comparing clinically trained

and management trained social workers on how often they engaged in twelve management

functions found no significant difference between the two groups. (Thompson, Menifee and

Marley, 1999). This finding does not necessarily contradict the finding of the present study

which examines preferred ways of attending to a common function, i.e., leadership.

When the path to management variable is cross tabulated with favored approaches to

motivating staff, no substantial or significant differences can be detected in these data. That is,

the proportions favoring using both personal interaction and organizational approaches to

motivation are approximately equal (53% to 55%) regardless of the presence or absence of direct

practice service in one’s professional background. Approximately equal proportions (32% to

36%) favor organizational structure as a primary approach to motivating staff and slightly

different proportions favor personal interaction as their primary approach to motivation, but the

cell numbers in this later bivariate distribution are much too small to claim a difference of any

substantial merit.

Explaining the differences found in favored primary approaches to leadership would be

pure speculation, given the limitations of sample size and the interpretive nature of the data in

this study, However and in the interest of suggesting hypotheses for further inquiry, it is useful

to take a look at the subjects reported primary mentors who have guided them to leadership roles

(Tables 16). Our subjects located 42% of their primary mentors in the workplace and only 8% of

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such mentors in their college or school and just 2% as field placement supervisors. This is

highly surprising finding given the much vaunted position of influence frequently attributed to

field instructors and supervisors in the culture of social work education. Might this finding

mean that management and leadership potential are subjects insufficiently or infrequently

addressed in student/field instructor relationships? While it is true that 28% the subjects of this

study did give equal credit to some combination of work and school as a source of mentorship

toward management, still the workplace alone almost doubled that proportion as a source of

influence. Moreover, when locus of significant mentors is cross-tabbed with the paths to

management variable (Table 16) we find that the workplace was the primary source of

mentorship for 59% of those managers who came to their positions of leadership after some

significant period of providing direct services to clients. For those managers without direct

service backgrounds, a significantly higher proportion of them identified their schools as the

source of primary mentorship toward management, i.e., 33% to 3%. This finding implies that

some significant number of social work students do receive mentoring from faculty (and field

instructors) when they, the students, express interest in management and/or possibly macro roles

available to social workers.

In sum, when examining favored approaches to leadership and motivating staff, whether

the subjects’ paths to management include direct practice experience prior to assuming a

management role would seem to play a part in favored approaches to leadership but not to

favored approaches to motivating staff. Perhaps the most encouraging thing about these finding

is the extent to which this cohort of managers reports that they employ BOTH approaches to

leadership and motivation.

25

Using the methodology of independent classification described previously, we have

found it possible to infer the presence of three of the “Big 5” personality characteristics in the

subjects of this study. That 96% of these managers expressed through their essays “openness to

new experience” may be taken as a strong indicator of the significance of this characteristic in

the personal makeup or style of these leaders. We were also able to infer the presence of

“conscientiousness” (58%) and “agreeableness (64%) in these managers (Table 9). The presence

of these later two characteristics may be higher than we were able to independently infer and

agree to from the essays. Subsequent research on the MMM’s should most certainly include a

plan to investigate the presence of the Big 5 characteristics in a direct and objective manner. For

instance, subsequent researchers may interview a sub-set of these leaders and, thus, include an

instrument designed to measure these characteristics.

The question, “What advice do you have for those beginning their career AND/ OR what

do you wish you had known before you started your career?” provided the qualitative responses.

The advice or information to guide the development of leadership was focused in three areas.

The first was advice of a personal nature. The bulk of the comments directed the readers to

focus on the character of the leader. The character of the leader refers to the personal qualities,

disposition, and values of the leader (Northouse, 2012). A framework developed by the

Josephson Institute defines the Six Pillars of Character. These six pillars or dimensions are

trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship behavior. The advice of

the MMMs stressed the importance of developing theses character dimensions for leadership

success.

Social workers are guided by the NASW Code of Ethics that prescribes ethical

leadership. This professional influence on character education may shape the focus of social

26

work leaders. However, ethics have become an important area of interest to business scholars

because of the influence on decisions and behaviors that contribute to outcomes within the

organization. The Journal of Business Ethics recently published a systematic review evaluating

184 articles of empirical research on organizational ethics (McLeod, Payne, & Evert, 2016). The

social work and business community recognize the importance of a leader’s character in

effective management. Over half (66%) of the MMMs specifically mention character traits and

dimensions as necessary for effective and ethical leadership.

The advice of a personal nature also focused on the leader’s self- care and development.

The comments reflected the importance of taking care of oneself in order to have the energy and

strength for effective leadership. Self-Care is well recognized as an essential component of

responsible social work practice and a trait to be encouraged by social work management.

The advice of a professional nature focused on characteristics of effective leadership.

This advice focused not only on the skills, knowledge, and professional abilities specific to the

organizational mission and client population but on general leadership skills. But once again the

bulk of the comments focused on the character of the leader within the professional realm.

The final area of advice provided to readers focused on understanding the organizations

needs both internally and externally. These comments focused on business acumen. Advice

directed readers to be aware of the organizations interaction with multiple external systems and

directing the organizations internal systems productively.

Conclusion

27

The autobiographical statements of the first 50 Monday Morning Managers have proven

to be a very rich source of information in response to such questions as: “What do social work

managers actually do? How do they go about providing leadership? How do they attempt to

motivate staff? Is it really necessary to engage first in direct service practice following graduate

school or may one go directly and successfully into management? And what do these managers

believe they need to know more about to be even more successful than they are? Within the

usual constraints which apply to small and purposive samples, the authors believe the data

summarized in this paper provide some beginning answers to these and other questions of

interest to those who practice and teach about social work management. We hope our work will

stimulate others to study the next 50 MMM with mindful appreciation for the important

contributions these practitioners make to the delivery of quality social services.

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