Leadership skills are valuable for all social workers, but they are especially important for graduate-level social workers. Master’s level practitioners and independently licensed social workers are held to a high standard and are naturally looked to for leadership and guidance.
Image from rachetandwrench.com.
One recommendation I have for strengthening leadership content in future courses would be to assign a group project. Regardless of the topic of the project, working together in groups is a great opportunity to demonstrate and practice leadership skills. In my experience, collaboration with other social workers teaches that you do not have to “lead from the front;” each member can and should have a leadership role, similar to how each social worker within an agency should demonstrate leadership even if it is not in a formal leadership position.