How can you Thrive as an Emerging Social Work Leader?

Welcome back to the Social Work Café blog.

I had another brilliant conversation recently with a social worker who first got in touch with me several months ago while preparing her Churchill Fellowship application.

Jody Bell is an experienced social worker with more than 35 years in the field, and her passion for the profession shines as brightly today as ever.

Her energy is unmistakable in our chat, where we explore her deep commitment to understanding how emerging social work leaders can truly thrive throughout their careers.

Jody raised some of the same workforce and retention challenges that I’ve been discussing in recent podcast episodes, including the research I’m currently conducting on working conditions in social work.

It’s one thing to be analysing these issues from a research perspective, but hearing Jody speak about what she sees on the ground, and her emphasis on the need for systemic support that creates a culture of psychological safety and well-being for social workers, really hit home.

If we want social workers to move into leadership roles and stay there, we must understand and support their professional needs so they can build long-lasting careers, just like Jody has.

So what do emerging social workers need?

Jody emphasises the importance of both structured and informal support, and lifelong learning, especially through peer support, supervision and mentoring.

In short, connection. We need to stay connected with each other. That message echoes so much of what I’ve been noticing in the research I’m analysing at the moment.

We also touched on the broader systemic conditions that matter, such as manageable workloads, sufficient resources, and strong succession planning. These are essential for all social workers, but particularly for those stepping into leadership.

Under the current neoliberal structures shaping our human services sector, we’ve seen far too much emphasis on individual responsibility for well-being and psychological safety.

Reflecting on her decades in practice, Jody shared that there is a cultural shift emerging, a shift that is slowly but steadily placing the focus where it should be: on organisational responsibility.

Of course, systemic change can feel overwhelming in its scale.

That’s exactly why Jody encourages us to concentrate on our small daily actions that, over time, create meaningful and positive change in the spaces where we work.

Later in our conversation, we talked about a burnout resource that Jody has developed for social workers.

It draws on her decades of insight, research and her coaching mindset. I’m thrilled to share it with you all here, and Jody is more than happy to connect if you have any questions or thoughts. As you’ll hear from the interview, she is genuinely passionate about all things social work.

So, what would Jody change to make social work better?

Progressing the registration of our profession in Australia, to strengthen our professional identity, enhance accountability, and shift the public perception of social work.

That comment on public perception really stayed with me. It’s something I hadn’t given enough thought to, and I’m still reflecting on it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with Jody, it was genuinely energising.

Let’s all send her positive energy for her fellowship application.

Stay tuned,
Dr. B