Leadership in Social Work.

“It is generally accepted that good leadership and management are essential to the successful transformation of services and the achievement of better outcomes for people” (SCIE, 2013).

Transformational Leadership.

Mufasa displays qualities, traits and characteristics of an effective Transformational Leader; motivation, loyalty, empowerment, trust and support, all of which create a vision and commitment among his followers (Mullins, 2007).

When acknowledging the components of transformative leadership one could suggest that this leadership style is congruent with the purposes and values of social work practice (McDonald & Chenoweth, 2009).

Bass (1985) cited in Fisher (2009) outlines four central principles of Transformational leadership; the four I's:

• Idealised Influence; the leader is viewed as a role model with the ability to create a vision, inciting admiration in the followers.
• Intellectual Stimulation; demonstrated through creativity and problem solving.
• Individual Consideration; a concept based upon leaders listening to the needs of their followers.
• Inspirational Motivation; moves towards action through confidence building  providing meaning to the challenge and future aspirations. 

Practicing all four principles of this leadership style will ensure leaders or managers within the social work profession promote organisational change through creating a vision for the future. Motivation, support and empowerment will ensure followers (social worker's) are pro-active and inspired to work towards and ultimately achieve goals (McDonald & Chenoweth, 2009). Gellis (2001) outlines that such factors relate to the willingness of social workers in engaging in activities, contentment and perception of effective leadership. 

It is evident that the principles associated with Transformational leaders are compatible with the principles that encircle the social work profession; empowerment and valuing individuals Packard (2003) cited in Fisher (2009). This concept is further grounded by Arches' (1997) who describes the values of Transformational leadership as 

"empowering and participatory as it promotes input into decision-making, delegation of tasks, responsibility and it fosters local leadership" (Arches, 1997, p.114). 

McGregor (1987) citied in Mullins (2010) suggests that leaders or managers are likely to fall into one or two categories; Theory X or Theory Y. When analysing Mufasa’s style of leadership, it has been suggested that Transformational leaders hold stronger Theory Y beliefs; integrity, optimism, recognition, and democracy, all of which Mufasa displays. Social Work is a helping profession which desires a democratic system of decision making, whereby a  focus is placed upon the service user and shared decision making. Communication is personalised from person to person,  and ultimately the profession believes the feelings of service users’ and employees should be valued by the system (Zastrow, 2012). It is therefore no surprise that in social work practice leaders or managers lean towards Theory Y, perhaps this is due to it being congruent with social work values, beliefs and approaches when working with service users (Fisher, 2009).

Rafiki and Charismatic Leadership

Rafiki demonstrates the qualities of a Charismatic Leader; these leaders are agents of radical social change rather than managers of the status quo (Congo and Kanungo 1998). This leadership approach is beneficial to workers promoting social change including civil rights, labour or feminist movements (Plionis 2007). Charismatic leaders acquire power through their personal attributes, because their followers believe in them, are able to motivate their followers to take action and inspire belief in a cause. It is considered to be an effective approach during times of crisis or dramatic change (Gellis 2001). A Charismatic Leader may be effective in leading Local Authorities through the current restructure of social care services in order to motivate anxious and dejected staff. 

Zazu and Managerial Leadership 

Kotter (1990a) suggests that organisations need both effective management and leadership in order to function successfully. Effective management skills are increasingly significant in difficult times characterised by extreme budget cuts (McGregor). Zazu adopts a holistic approach to the management of the Pride Lands and promotes an openly communicative environment; speaking with the various herds of animals and discussing problems as soon as they arise. Such an approach in social work is advocated in order to create an environment where staff are engaged to deal with problems promptly and efficiently (Kerfoot 2000 cited in MacDonald and Chenowith 2009). Theories of motivation are necessary to enable social work managers to motivate their workers in order to promote confidence and productivity (Fisher 2009). It is recognised that workers choose to work in the social care field for a variety of different reasons and each person holds their own set of values (Whitaker 2008). It is therefore necessary for managers to understand motivation in order to successfully encourage staff productivity. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs can help managers to understand the stage at which the worker is functioning thus ensuring that they provide appropriate opportunities for stimulation and to fulfill their motivational needs. Further motivational theories which can be applied include Hertzberg's Motivation Hygiene Factor Theory and McLelland's Trichotomy of Needs. 


Scar and Transactional Leadership 

Scar demonstrates how a transactional leadership approach based on a system of payment by results can create alienation of the work force and dishonesty, as the followers were only subservient in Scar's presence, but they expressed defiance and disagreement with his leadership behaviour when he was not around . This type of leadership can encourage followers to actively deceive managers by appearing to be compliant but then completing work to a poor standard or even not at all, as demonstrated when the hyenas did not tell Scar that they had failed to kill Simba.

In social work practice this leadership style can have potentially damaging effects because it is more suited to simple manual tasks rather than the complex, messy situations that social workers encounter in their day to day work (Lowe 2013). Payments by results (PbR) is an example of an outcomes based performance system that skews organisational priorities and causes them to focus on targets rather than on the needs of service users. 



When applied to the complicated situations of peoples' lives, this can have damaging effects because it is over simplified. Payment by results (PbR) is the rules based system in England whereby commissioners pay healthcare providers according to the work completed for example, for each patient treated, whilst taking into account the complexity of the patient's needs. PbR has been used in hospitals for around a decade and has been extended to mental health services, but the government is aiming to extend it to other areas such as community care services (Department of Health 2010). Some argue that paying according to performance based on a set of predefined standards can seriously reduce the quality of the services provided and ignores those most in need, such as the vulnerable and disadvantaged. This has been evidenced by work schemes focusing on the people who are more likely to find employment and ignoring clients with higher needs. The reason for this is that it encourages employees to falsify statistics on work performance and to only work with clients that they perceive as fulfilling the standards, rather than with people that have the most desperate and complex needs (Lowe 2013).

The University of Oxford looked at the impact of results targets on the NHS and found that "target based performance management always creates 'gaming', not sometimes, not frequently. Always" (Lowe 2013).

There is a debate on how far PbR can be applied to more complex situations such as assisting troubled families or providing care for people that have complex needs that change over time. A report on the feasibility of using PbR for work with troubled families suggested that usually PbR is measured by one single outcome measure i.e. work schemes simply measure whether a client gains employment and ceases to claim benefits, but with troubled families there is no one simple outcome. There were also concerns that that this system may encourage entry by private companies that have financial strength, but lack the understanding of the challenges involved in working with troubled families (HM Government 2012). 

Simba and Developing Leadership

The film follows Simba on his journey to becoming an effective leader.  It shows the challenges leaders may face and how to overcome these. The skills of leadership can be developed over time through a Functional Approach, as greater attention is given to successful training of leaders, improving their performance and the effectiveness of the group (Mullins, 2007). This approach supports leaders to develop into Transformational Leaders, a common type of leadership style within social work practice.

McGregor (2011) states the emphasis on ethical leadership encourages managers to lead from a human rights perspective, reflecting the complex and often highly-charged nature of social work decision making. Leadership development is essential for all workers in the social work field and not just at management level (McGregor, 2011).

In the film, Simba recognises and understands that current practice within the Pride Lands needs to change in order for harmony to be restored amongst his followers. Also to enable the group to work towards the collective goal of returning the Pride Lands back to its former glory, and resulting in the ‘Circle of Life’ being complete.

Social work is an area in which changes to government policy and practice are frequent, and leaders and managers need to act as agents of change, by implementing these amongst their work force.  For these changes to be effective, leaders and managers need to have an understanding of Goal Setting Theory of Motivation. Setting goals provides direction for social workers, enabling them to understand what needs to be done and the timescales to achieve these.  Clear and specific goals also lead to better output and performance by workers (Management Study Guide, 2008).