Two of the leadership concepts that we have learned about this semester are Ethical Leadership and Assuming Positive Intent/Mood Elevator.
Ethical Leadership
Part of being ethical leaders coincides with something that I talked about in my last post, which was being ethical social workers while working with people from other professions. In our coursework regarding ethical leadership, we read this quote from Ruth Lipschutz:
“As social workers, ethical leadership is fundamentally about having the insight and courage to live out our values when there is pressure to compromise or rationalize them away. It is in situations where we are faced with ethical dilemmas—competing duties that require rank ordering of value—that ethical leadership is most needed.”
In order to make ethical decisions, we must be able to recognize ethical dilemmas when they exist. As social work practitioners using ethical leadership, we must remember that ethical decision-making is a process and that it won’t always be easy. Resolving a problem can only be as easy as the problem itself, and in social work, we see our fair share of complicated ethical dilemmas. As in every area of social work practice, we must exercise cultural humility when considering ethical decision-making.
Integrating Ethical Leadership into Practice
I have already utilized ethical leadership/decision-making in my education at Ohio State, and I can easily imagine myself integrating this concept into my practice in the future. Everyday, social work practice involves ethics. We must always be aware of the Code of Ethics and how it impacts our interactions with all clients. In my undergraduate field placement, I was required to use an ethical-decision making model (I used the Reamer model: https://csw.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/reamermodel1.pdf ) to resolve ethical dilemmas as one of my activities on my learning agreement. I will use the concept of ethical leadership to guide my practice in the field of social work and stay true to the Code of Ethics. Models such as the Reamer Model will help me make these ethical decisions.
Assuming Positive Intent/the Mood Elevator
Assuming positive intent and being aware of where I am on the mood elevator is the leadership concept from this semester that resonated with me the most because I have the tendency to let my emotions rule my life. Without even realizing it, I allow my feelings to have an impact on every other aspect of my life. It is important that I learn to monitor my emotions and regularly check where I am on the mood elevator. If I determine that I am low on the elevator, I need to try to change my viewpoint, gain other perspectives, and alter my thought patterns. A way to ensure that I remain high on the mood elevator is to consistently practice self-care.
Integrating Assuming Positive Intent/the Mood Elevator
We need to be able to see the best in people in order to be effective social workers. For this reason, I like to think of assuming positive intent as operating from a strengths-based perspective. The strengths-based perspective is essentially focusing on people’s strengths rather than their weaknesses. This relates to assuming positive intent and the mood elevator, because they are both about concentrating on the positives. I have already started practicing checking in with where I am on the mood elevator before interacting with others, and I will continue to do so throughout the MSW program and my career.