**9.4 Other leadership models used in social work organizations**

The study as well looked at other different models used in either social work organizations or non social work organizations from social work perspectives. Thus in pursuant to the findings of various studies conducted earlier, these organizations employ different models for example the crisis intervention model and the problem solving model among others. The problem-solving approach model for example is where a social worker facilitates an individual to identify a problem, create an action plan to solve the problem and implement the solution together. The social worker and individual both discuss the effectiveness of the problem-solving model and adjust it as necessary. Although organizational roles may limit the professional identity of social workers, their commitment to the principle of social justice distinguishes them from other professionals. For this particular study, the key findings demonstrate that because of various disasters experienced by some organizations for example during severe droughts, floods disasters, extreme food shortages, Covid-19 pandemic to mention but a few, these social work organizations use different theories and leadership styles as intervention strategies. However, under those diverse and complex socio-economic and environmental hardships, the study noted that sometimes these organisations fail to foster effective social work leadership models. As a result, the majority of social workers end up being not well organised, controlled or coordinated and may end up having a non-cooperative attitude resulting in unproductive leadership models applied. Often, it is fundamental to nurture or foster effective leadership in social work organisations in order to succeed meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups and communities. To add on, fostering effective leadership is quite essential deriving its power from the apt theoretical approaches that can be used to sustain successful and professional delivery of human services in the face of social, economic and political environments that are continuously changing. In this respect, leaders are obliged to set optimistic goals and objectives as these are the ones taking

*Perspective Chapter: Fostering Effective Leadership in Social Work Organisations DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106281*

charge and control of the operations of an organisation towards the attainment of the intended goals and objectives.

To add on, the success of social work organisations in today's world is characterised by sophisticated technology which is increasingly and constantly changing and relies on a transformational leadership model as a means for social workers to execute theories in their social work practice. The cognitive behaviour model and the task centred model for example are also some of the models applied in organizations to address the challenges from social work perspectives. Under crisis situations like COVId-19 pandemic and forced displacement due to floods disasters, growing empirical evidence demonstrates that transformational leaders in social work organizations involves more innovative strategies to instil creativity in their subordinates, which strongly correlates with high employee satisfaction rates, productivity and decreases attrition rates. In essence, transformational leaders develop a vision that is followed by employees accomplishing the set goals and objectives of an organisation. Thus effective leadership is enhanced through appropriate leadership skills to influence and motivate employees to strengthen a positive organisation culture as well as favourable provision of employee benefits such as health care insurance, workers compensation and leave benefits among others [28]. The key findings of the desk review and qualitative data from interviews and participative discussions was obtained by re-evaluating governmental and social work organizations leadership models and the scope of social worker's responsibilities. The effectiveness of leadership in organization was also provided by reviewing academic and NGO literature to identify current thinking and analysis of critical factors and trends relevant to the leadership models in organizations prom social work perspectives whether transformational models, cognitive model, task centred, crisis intervention and extract major elements of knowledge. Again, data was accessed in journals, books, articles and websites, national reports and documents on different leadership theories and models as well as information from social work organizations that are using different social work leadership theories and models. Following this fundamental comprehensive evaluation, our study concludes that the current models have been developed and tested elsewhere but however, there is still need to develop other models suited to the locally based small organizations which are experiencing severe hardships in the form of cyclical droughts, floods disasters, socio-economic and environmental conditions unexpectedly. These key findings therefore suggest that leaders ought to have the following attributes to foster effective leadership in social work organisations from social work perspectives:

Strong leadership ability depicted in a person's behaviour, thus leaders should be role models to their subordinates. To gain trust and admiration from employees a leader must be able to produce good results and achieve the goals of the organisation and it advertently inclines their values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviour toward work values and ethics which will results in consistency in service delivery. Leaders with strong leadership qualities are also charismatic and have great influence on how workers carry out their tasks and activities in the direction of achieving the organisation goals and objectives.

Leaders to have a clear vision for the future of the organisation through investing in research and development. Research promotes evidence based practice which focuses on informing decision making based on evaluating existing research and knowledge. Essentially, leaders should organise staff development training and education programmes (workshops and conferences) where workers learn from others on effective and efficient ways of delivering human services. In addition, leaders need to keep abreast with the contemporary needs and demands of individuals, families, groups and communities and bring to light the necessary reforms that will take the organisation into a brighter future.

Inspirational motivation is required from leaders. Leaders should encourage employees to commit to attaining the set goals and objectives of an organisation on individual basis as well as a group or team. In doing this, leaders should demonstrate enthusiasm and optimism by accelerating the flow of information and knowledge across boundaries of the organisation, thereby encouraging workplace relationships. Employees should also be motivated through giving them a provision for retreats and workplace events that create opportunities for socialisation.

Workers need intellectual stimulation which increases their innovation. Innovative leaders instil creativity in workers to encourage them to approach problems in new ways. Creativity also thrives in collaboration of ideas from people across the organisation with different backgrounds, thinking styles and expertise (for example, in a hospital setting). When workers value collective innovation diverse perspectives are captured that foster effective and efficient human service delivery.

Leaders need not be selfish. They should prioritise the individual needs of the workers, serving as mentors, advisors, advocates and coaches taking into account individual needs within a group. Catering for individual needs also requires listening and emotional control; as such leaders should develop patience and understanding as well as being accommodative to change and criticism. Good communication and transparency, in addition, cements a good relationship between the leader and individuals resulting in fostering collaboration needed for effective provision of human services.
