This chapter lays the foundation for facilitative leadership from the unique social work perspective. Social work’s Code of Ethics and social work practice principles contribute to the value-based leadership that is part of the facilitative leader’s core. Among the important expectations of social work leadership are cultural sensitivity and competence. Five discussion areas have been selected as essential to facilitative leadership from a social work perspective: inclusion, strengths-based leadership, power and the difference between power over and power with, oppression and social justice, and the elusive but critically important concept of empowerment. There are different types of power and power relationships such as productive power and destructive power. Being conscious of privilege and oppression are precursors to understanding social injustice and working toward social justice. The social work program identifies social justice as a professional obligation of social workers to attempt to improve the quality of all people’s lives.

Historically, community-based nonprofit organizations have drawn board members from their local communities. Board members are being asked to deepen their understanding of the mission of the agency and develop an understanding of social change and social justice. As the agency matures, the roles of the board shift and they become more responsible for governance and fundraising. A well-balanced board is composed of people of various professional backgrounds and social skills, with cultural and ethnic diversity that reflects the composition of the people being served by the agency, and with the financial means, or access to it, to provide support for the agency. Irrespective of any professional credentials that board members may hold, it is critical that all board members have strong leadership skills. Board members are frequently concerned about how agencies handle their ‘legal issues’.

In order to be an effective manager, the key ingredient is to understand that the world, as it is perceived, is the world that is behaviorally important. As a manager, it is important to be able to differentiate between fact and inference. Managers should identify staff with high-power needs and understand that when those people feel powerless or not in control of a situation, they are more likely to be frustrated. As many managers view the appraisal process as intruding into their “regular” responsibilities, they tend to not want to go out of their way to concentrate on gathering, thoroughly evaluating, and digesting all the information needed to accurately assess a staff member’s performance. An ongoing and open dialogue between staff and management is critical to ensure that the manager is conducting him- or herself in a manner that fits into the parameters of social justice.

This chapter refers to the most important federal tax laws relating to nonprofit governance. It addresses the relationship between tax-exempt status and advocacy for “social justice” that is an important public policy issue. The chapter describes the type of nonprofit organization, the primary responsibilities of directors, trustees, and officers, how to address conflicts of interest and related party transactions, important governance rules related to fundraising and what legal rules affect nonprofit organizations engaging in advocacy for social justice. A nonprofit status is generally a state law concept that may make an organization eligible for benefits such as state income, sales, and property tax exemption. The ultimate legal authority and responsibility for a nonprofit organization lie with the governing board, which is composed of directors or trustees. The chapter concludes by extracting some general principles and best practices for good governance of nonprofits.

Social justice is the foundation for a democratic society and means that all people should have an equal chance to achieve economic, personal, and public success. Social change means that nonprofit organizations do not accept the status quo in the health, education, poverty, and other areas of public concern where they work. The problem in today’s financially uncertain world is that nonprofits have moved away from doing social change advocacy and concentrate more on their own staff, fundraising, and other management issues. This chapter traces the development and evaluation of a training program for present and future nonprofit leaders that combine management and social change skills and knowledge, which allow a nonprofit executive to take on social change challenges. The training considers social change as a part of the daily workload of a nonprofit and so it is integrated into each management course in the curriculum.

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts of key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book illustrates the emerging importance of social justice when developing the nonprofit leader of the future. It describes the importance of financial management skills for the nonprofit leader. The book explores the changing role of a nonprofit board that includes more accountability and a higher level of demands. It analyzes many diverse functions within the nonprofit ecosystem and discusses how social justice is now an absolutely essential skill set when developing leaders in this field. The book examines the evolution of nonprofit boards from its humble beginnings as a neighborhood organization to its current state of a more formal entity. It indicates the definition of ‘social justice’ as creating an egalitarian society that is based on equality and solidarity where human rights and the dignity of each individual is of utmost importance.

This book presents a comprehensive list of leadership and management competencies from the Network for Social Work Management (NSWM) and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) along with a list of competencies and practice behaviors that are located in each chapter. This chapter discusses NSWM human services management competencies and practice behaviors. There are twenty one competencies, which include: establishes, promotes, and anchors the vision, philosophy, goals, objectives, and values of the organization; possesses interpersonal skills that support the viability and positive functioning of the organization; possesses analytical and critical thinking skills that promote organizational growth; models appropriate professional behavior and encourages other staff members to act in a professional manner; manages diversity and cross-cultural understanding and develops and manages both internal and external stakeholder relationships; and initiates and facilitates innovative change processes and advocates for public policy change and social justice at national, state, and local levels.

This book presents a comprehensive list of leadership and management competencies from the Network for Social Work Management (NSWM) and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) along with a list of competencies and practice behaviors that are located in each chapter. This chapter briefly describes the nine CSWE competencies and practice behaviors. Competency one: Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior; Competency two: Engage diversity and difference in practice; Competency three: Advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice; Competency four: Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice; Competency five: Engage in policy practice; Competency six: Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities; Competency seven: Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities; Competency eight: Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities; and Competency nine: Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Over the years, many of the participants in the authors’ facilitative leadership training programs have worked to implement facilitative leadership in their agencies and community organizations. The authors have asked them for recommendations on how to increase facilitative leadership skills. While the authors had attempted to demonstrate that facilitative leadership is greater than the sum of leadership and facilitation skills, having some materials that build both of those skills can greatly benefit individual social workers and their agencies. Whenever possible, persons with good facilitative leadership skills within the agency or community organization and outside facilitators are paired with other individuals so they can observe the skills being put into practice. Asking group members with limited experience in serving as the formal facilitative leader to take various parts of the group process is an excellent way for them to build skills. Facilitative leadership and social justice are two strong, stand-alone concepts.