Social work leadership development through international exchange.

Social workers in large bureaucratic settings face the pressure to define their service in relation to other professional disciplines and to maintain a quality service despite conflicting mandates and economic restraints. Few strategies exist for providing training and education to senior social workers in order to help them develop leadership roles in multidisciplinary environments. This paper examines the characteristics and qualities necessary to provide social work leadership in a complex hospital environment. The ideas emerged from an international leadership exchange program with The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. Aspects of this experience are used to illustrate leadership roles.