Publications from ODSW Social Insights: Letters by DSW (Vol 1) | Seite 144

Letter to Social Service Leaders #2

Dear Fellow Social Service Leaders,
As we enter into the New Year and SG50 celebrations, it is good to sum
up the attributes needed for good leadership in the social service sector.
For emerging and future leaders, many would like to know some helpful
perspectives to adopt in order to lead well. Some may even ask what qualities
are needed to be a good leader in the social service sector and whether
there are skills that are more crucial in this sector. One perspective to take is
a gap approach ie to know what is needed and what is required to meet the
need. Adopting this approach means considering the capabilities needed
to fulfil the emerging social missions effectively and to adapt to the fastchanging demands. One might then posit that a more systematic focus on
and investment in leadership development in the social service sector could
pay off in terms of more effective deliveries of social interventions.

What sector leaders need to succeed
So what are the attributes that are especially crucial for leadership in the
social service sector? What are the few unique attributes that are particular
to leadership in the social service sector? Various individuals will highlight
different ones. In my opinion, these are essentials:
a) team leadership,
b) ability to collaborate,
c) managing outcomes and producing quality improvements, and
d) being able to innovate and implement.

A.Team leadership
As mentioned in my earlier letter, too often, leadership development programs
focus on the organization’s top individual or individuals when success is highly
dependent upon other leaders across the organization, both at the staff and
board level. As such, we must actively support team leadership through
having systems for organizational leadership and governance.
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