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BJSW Advance Access originally published online on December 6, 2005
British Journal of Social Work 2007 37(1):123-141; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch404
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

Leadership in Social Work: A Case of Caveat Emptor?

John Lawler

John Lawler lectures in public sector management. He is a qualified social worker and worked in a number of posts in local authority social work before moving into academia. His research interests include: management and leadership development in the public sector; organizational change; user involvement with social care and health services; and philosophy and management.

Correspondence to Dr John Lawler, Institute for Health Sciences and Public Health Research, University of Leeds, 71–75 Clarendon Road, Leeds LS2 9PL, UK. E-mail: j.a.lawler{at}leeds.ac.uk

This article examines the current interest in leadership in general and the growing interest in leadership in social work, in particular. It highlights the lack of a generalized definition of the word and the different ways it is interpreted in social work. The implicit assumptions on which much leadership writing appears to be founded are noted. Leadership can be seen as a further development of the managerial agenda, from one perspective, or as a countervailing factor maintaining professional autonomy, from another. In considering some of the components of leadership as identified by some in the field, the paper considers the extent to which these skills are exclusive to leadership and asks whether they might already be present but overlooked in the profession. The paper concludes that expectations of leadership within social work would benefit from debate and clarification if this is to be a useful future theme.

Keywords: social work leadership, leadership and management


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