Enacting change through leadership practice in social work: A social identity approach

Leadership in social work is often met with ambivalence, as traditional models are seen to conflict with the profession's core values of inclusion, equity, and social justice. While existing research highlights the importance of leadership in enabling professional practice and workforce well-being, there remains a critical gap in understanding how social workers can lead in ways that authentically embody these values. This paper explores a social identity approach to leadership that can empower social workers to influence and motivate others by Creating, Advancing, Representing, and Embedding (CARE) a shared social identity (a sense of 'us-ness') within the groups they lead. Drawing on research from organizational psychology and allied health contexts, alongside practice examples from social work, we discuss how this approach enables social workers to create a unified sense of purpose within contemporary practice contexts. Through the introduction of the 5R programme (Readying, Reflecting, Representing, Realizing, and Reinforcing), we outline a practical intervention to operationalize the CARE model which equips social workers with tools to develop inclusive leadership practices. This paper advances social work leadership scholarship by providing a theoretical foundation and practical framework that aligns leadership effectiveness with the profession's commitment to anti-oppressive practice and social justice. Leadership in social work is often met with ambivalence, as traditional models are seen to conflict with the profession's core values of inclusion, equity, and social justice. To be effective, social workers must engage in leadership by aligning the diverse values, interests, and aspirations of the individuals, groups, communities, and organizations with whom they work. Informed by the social identity approach to leadership and practice examples, this paper argues that effective leadership is grounded in leaders' ability to influence and motivate others. They facilitate this through Creating, Advancing, Representing, and Embedding (CARE) a shared social identity (a sense of 'us-ness') within the groups they lead. To operationalize this approach, we introduce a practice-based leadership intervention, the 5R programme (Readying, Reflecting, Representing, Realizing, and Reinforcing) that applies the model through a structured developmental process. This programme challenges traditional, hierarchical leadership models, equipping the social work profession with insights and skills to create the conditions where individuals, groups, and communities feel heard and motivated to work towards shared goals. The paper demonstrates how embracing a social identity approach can empower social workers to lead inclusively, ensuring that leadership is both effective and aligned with the profession's core values.