#4 Thoughts on Macro Practice

For this assignment, I decided I would try to interview social workers with very different perspectives, this way I would hopefully get very different answers. The social workers I pestered enough to obtain comments from were all withing my field placement at a small, non-profit adoption agency. The first was my direct supervisor, she holds an LICSW, and is the Support Services Manager. She has been a clinician for 15 years. Secondly is a development associate. She obtained her MSW and after 3 years of clinical work in a hospital, decided to switch to development, and has done that for the last 10 years  Lastly is Executive Director, she has worked tirelessly for 25 years for several organizations, and holds a strong passion for the entire adoption community.

Question #1  Define Macro Practice

Macro practice is what shapes the work we do with people. It is activists and advocates that fight for the projects and policies we believe in, which then allows us to do the work we do. It is also work that can have a much broader scope, My work here may help one kid, which in turn ends up helping an entire family system. But community work that touches an entire neighborhood, has the ability to help a much larger system.


Macro practice is very different from clinical practice, it has much more of a formal feel for me. It is a lot about being passionate about your ideas. It has more of a business-like approach, we need to sell the importance and strengths of our ideas, while also supporting its cost-effectiveness unfortunately.

Macro practice is vital in helping to end social issues. The one I happen to be most passionate about is the importance of permanency for children, but there are millions of issues. Macro practice is mostly about advocating for the rights and well-being of our clients. Whether it is with judges, policy makers, or community leaders, supporting the greatest needs of clients in anyway possible. Whether it is developing large scale community trainings for professionals or joining forces with other agencies to advocate for the passing of a bill, macro practice is about making changes that can help on a massive scale.


Question #2 Activities involving macro practice.

It may be stretching it to say this, but the only instance where I think macro practice comes in for me is my role as an instructor during our community trainings. Every year we offer trainings to community providers in which I teach multiple sections. 

Basically everything I do is macro practice. Some of my biggest responsibilities are fund-raising and event planning. I advocate for not only our clients, but also the programs and services we provide as an agency. Our agency provides vital services to these clients in need, most of which would not be possible without the help of the community and our donors.

I perform macro activities on a daily basis. For instance the biggest project we have right now is a summer college prep program, for children in foster care. Due to the fact that children in foster care are so far behind the educational curve, a group of providers, including our agency, are developing a huge program that is aiming to eliminate the educational gap between children in foster care, and the rest of our youth. 




Question #3 What percentage of work is Macro practice?


Almost none, for the most part my work has always been with individuals or families. As an agency we advocate for our clients when appropriate bills are being voted on, but I do not usually play a big role in that.

Pretty much 95% of my work is Macro practice. The only time I am not doing macro work is during our events. Then I am building connections with clients on a micro level.

85% of my time is spent on macro practice, the remainder being mostly filled with administrative duties. Most of the time I am meeting with our board members or exchanging emails with other community providers on behalf of our clients or community. I have however built extremely strong bonds with a number of our clients, past and present. So I do still service some clients in a clinical role. 


 Question #4 What leadership skills does it take?

A main skill required to be a good macro leader is to have out-spoken passion. Our director has immense passion for our clients and she stops at nothing to display it. This is necessary in order to generate enough backing to make a difference. 

Important skill to have in order to macro practice is patience. No matter how often we get turned down, or projects do not live up to expectations, we have to be patient and persistent. If you know that the cause is a good one, and you believe in it, keep going after it. 

 
For me, I think it is very important to be able to look at things from several perspectives. In my work, I have learned, in order to get things accomplished I need to have an idea of what other people were feeling or thinking, what there agendas are. Because without knowing these angles, it makes it much more difficult to achieve the things I would like to achieve for our clients.

Leadership

The most revealing thing for me was the differences in styles of the three individuals I interviewed. The first of them claimed she did not do much macro practice, however knowing her as my direct supervisor, I know that she leads by example. Her passion is easily shown by her dedication to the clients she serves, as well as her service to the mission of their agency. The other revealing thing about my interviews, was the directors striking resemblance to a character Sen (2003) mentioned in our readings. Sen mentioned what she had been taught, where that in choosing a leader, one must find a person that possesses a "Fire in the Belly"  (p. 99). These type of people inspire others. This is exactly the vibe the director of this agency gives off., she is relentless in her pursuit of service to her clients. 

Sen, R. (2003). Stir it up: Lessons in community organizing and advocacy. SF: Chardon Press Series, Jossey-Bass.