I interviewed three MSWs. The general conscious is that macro social work creates social justice and equality. Macro social work can also promote awareness of issues in the community and create change on the larger level such as local, state, and federal government.
Leadership roles are important to the success of any organization. It was observed that a strong, yet flexible leader, who can get the job done were the most admirable characteristics, per the interviewees. Their views reflect strongly with the Community Toolbox on Leadership Styles and Collaborative Leadership (2011). The Community Toolbox illustrates that strong leadership, as well as, diversity and understanding are also worthily qualities that a successful leader should possess. However, there are several different types of leadership styles highlighted in the Community Toolbox such as collaborative and managerial which poses their own set of characteristics. However, it is general knowledge that everyone has different personalities and skills. These differences are what makes them who they are and those qualities may or may not be leadership quality for a particular organization; but I do believe that each person does have some type of leadership skills that can contribute to an organization no matter how little or big the skill. In my mind, if someone is a member of an organization, they are already leaders to those who have not exercised their American liberty through a community organization and fought for what they believe in.
Brief Overview of Interviews
Macro social work is a community organization at local, state, and federal level to change policy to reflect equality for all, such as health care and equal pay. It also means to advocate on a large scale for resources to be distributed equally. I personally spend most of my time on a one-to-one basis with my students. However, because micros and macro are intertwined I am basically doing macro all the time because I have to look at the whole picture when working with my students. For example, I may have to look into changing a school policy if the current one is outdated due to my students’ current needs (B. Pereira, MSW, LCSW, personal communication, January 27, 2012).Brief Overview of Interviews
Macro social work is very broad to me. It initiates change in policy for a community or organization in a positive way that is going to impact individuals needs. For example, Old Colony Elder Services created the Supportive Housing Program at the Executive Office of Elder Affairs to support elders in housing as there was a need in the area. Some other program examples are GAP analysis and applying for HUD grants to cover the GAPS in services. Most of my time is working in the macro sense of social work as I am a program developer (N. Welch, MSW, personal communication, January 27, 2012).
I am always thinking on a macro level because my clients are affected by the community resources and political resources available to them. My clients are students from a low SES community in New Bedford. Therefore, their immediate needs may also be affected by the resources, or the lack of resources available to them. Leadership qualities that I believe are relevant to successful macro social work practice are strong leadership and communication. It is extremely important to keep the lines of communication open on a macro level so that everyone understands what is going on and so that a commodity can be created among members of the organization. Also, the members in an organization should have different interest and talents that they can share to increase the success of the organization (K. Peirce, MSW, LCSW, personal communication, January 31, 2012)
The interviews were interesting as I received different perspectives from each reading and interviewee. However, even though each is different they are tied in together as creating relationship is the key to successful organizations. References/Cite
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