Leadership and management competencies defined by practicing social work managers: An overview of standards developed by the national network for social work managers

The National Network for Social Work Managers, a professional membership organization established in the mid-'80s as a resource for social workers involved in agency management, has developed of a set of tools designed to improve management skills and ultimately the quality of service delivery in agencies. This article reviews these tools, focusing on the ten competencies needed to run a well-functioning, high quality organization. In addition, it will briefly introduce the reader to the Certified Social Work Manager (CSWM) credential, the only nationally recognized credential for specialists in social work management, as well as the Network's management practice standards. Although the primary purpose of this article is to introduce readers to these new contributions to the field of social work management, it also hopes to stir interest in the academic and practice communities in working collaboratively to develop additional new materials in the area of quality leadership by social work managers. (C) 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc All rights reserved.