Unit 4: applying appropriate leadership strategies
A leader is someone who influences and motivates a group of individuals so that they achieve a
common goal. They create a vision for the team because of their understanding of their players
and has the responsibility of providing advice and direction to achieve that common goal.
In sport, there are 3 different leaders: captain, manager, and coach. A captain is one of the
players within the team and provide instructions and a sense of confidence to their teammates.
They are required to lead and support the players and perform in matches. Coaches are
required to plan and deliver training sessions to improve their players performance. A
manager's responsibilities are like coaches as they do the same but also need to achieve and
follow the club’s visions.
There are 2 types of leaders, emergent and prescribed. Emergent leaders grow into the role
through experience and are with the club for several years before they gain the role of a leader.
These are usually captains and sometimes coaches. Prescribed leaders are brought in to be
that specific role so are normally managers and coaches.
An example of a leader is Owen Farrell, the England rugby captain. Captains are the main voice
in the team that has the most responsibility for delivering strategies so need to have a high level
of discipline and the ability to communicate with teammates. Farrell can be seen doing this
when leading England to a Six Nations title in 2020. Captains need qualities such as knowledge
of rules and laws, knowledge of techniques, strategies, and tactics. They will also need to
recognise the physical and mental needs of their teammates, so they do not overwhelm them.
Some characteristics every leader should have are patience, commitment, goal focus and
approachability. However, Farrell has some other ones such as attentiveness, consistency, and
discretion. Having these positive characteristics will allow Farrell to be a better leader and
motivate his teammates to win the game. One way he has shown his consistency is during
games. His club teammate Richard Wrigglesworth said that “everything he does is done to the
best of his ability and he thrives under pressure.” From Wrigglesworth’s words, we can see that
Farrell can deliver on the big occasions. This is very important as another environment that
Owen Farrell shows his characteristics is in training. One of his younger teammates, Max
Malins, told the media that “After I have played, he will go through games with me and has been
a big help. I think he’s always been a leader – the way he is, how committed he is.” His
commitment towards helping others makes him an excellent leader that younger players can
look up to.
, factors can affect a player's performance and a leader should have a large understanding on
how they can affect their teammates. These factors can be broken down into 2: internal and
external
Internal factors are attribution theory, self-esteem, past experience, self-serving bias, and
behaviour. These factors can be seen as internal because they are what you feel, and the
factors includes your personality traits. External factors are personality, group formation, team
cohesion, motivation, arousal, anxiety, and confidence. Most leaders in the sport industry
possess common knowledge of the same psychological factors. All good leaders have past
experience which allows them to use their prior knowledge to overcome difficult scenarios they
might have encountered previously. Most leaders in sport will have an elite understanding of the
internal psychological factors as they are an attribute of a person and links to their personality.
The external factors are where leaders start to differ from each other. External factors are
influenced by the environment around you that impact your behaviour. Some elite leaders may
not know how cohesive the team is or the group formation because they are prescribed and
specifically brought in to fill that role. An example of this is when Erik ten Hag joined Manchester
United as the manager from Ajax. To help with his vision of the club and help create a cohesive
squad, he signed 2 players from his previous club to Manchester United, Lisandro Martinez and
Antony.
When playing for my football team, I used my past experience of playing football to realise how
quickly a counterattack can happen and how to stop it from happening. When my team had a
corner kick, I instructed one of the smaller, faster players on the team to sit on the edge of the
box, so he is in a better position defensively. This factor can also link with Owen Farrell’s past
experience as a rugby player as he has suffered many defeats in the past, so he knows how to
handle situations where he does not get the result he wanted. He was on the losing side of a
heavy 30-19 defeat in a quarter final, however from that game himself and the team came back
stronger which allowed them to play well for the rest of the season. This resilience shown by
Farrell can link to the attribution theory. This is a type of motivation where someone will have a
reason for their success or failure. Farrell could use this to his advantage to try motivate his
teammates and become an even better leader by hypothetically, saying that the reason the
team lost is because they did not train hard enough in training. This may lead to a chain reaction
where the players take on board what Farrell said and start to put more effort in during training,
and as a result of this, the performances in games will become better.
Owen Farrell’s skills for a captain are elite as he is able to motivate his teammates to perform
better and demand the best form everyone on the team which displays his communication and
A leader is someone who influences and motivates a group of individuals so that they achieve a
common goal. They create a vision for the team because of their understanding of their players
and has the responsibility of providing advice and direction to achieve that common goal.
In sport, there are 3 different leaders: captain, manager, and coach. A captain is one of the
players within the team and provide instructions and a sense of confidence to their teammates.
They are required to lead and support the players and perform in matches. Coaches are
required to plan and deliver training sessions to improve their players performance. A
manager's responsibilities are like coaches as they do the same but also need to achieve and
follow the club’s visions.
There are 2 types of leaders, emergent and prescribed. Emergent leaders grow into the role
through experience and are with the club for several years before they gain the role of a leader.
These are usually captains and sometimes coaches. Prescribed leaders are brought in to be
that specific role so are normally managers and coaches.
An example of a leader is Owen Farrell, the England rugby captain. Captains are the main voice
in the team that has the most responsibility for delivering strategies so need to have a high level
of discipline and the ability to communicate with teammates. Farrell can be seen doing this
when leading England to a Six Nations title in 2020. Captains need qualities such as knowledge
of rules and laws, knowledge of techniques, strategies, and tactics. They will also need to
recognise the physical and mental needs of their teammates, so they do not overwhelm them.
Some characteristics every leader should have are patience, commitment, goal focus and
approachability. However, Farrell has some other ones such as attentiveness, consistency, and
discretion. Having these positive characteristics will allow Farrell to be a better leader and
motivate his teammates to win the game. One way he has shown his consistency is during
games. His club teammate Richard Wrigglesworth said that “everything he does is done to the
best of his ability and he thrives under pressure.” From Wrigglesworth’s words, we can see that
Farrell can deliver on the big occasions. This is very important as another environment that
Owen Farrell shows his characteristics is in training. One of his younger teammates, Max
Malins, told the media that “After I have played, he will go through games with me and has been
a big help. I think he’s always been a leader – the way he is, how committed he is.” His
commitment towards helping others makes him an excellent leader that younger players can
look up to.
, factors can affect a player's performance and a leader should have a large understanding on
how they can affect their teammates. These factors can be broken down into 2: internal and
external
Internal factors are attribution theory, self-esteem, past experience, self-serving bias, and
behaviour. These factors can be seen as internal because they are what you feel, and the
factors includes your personality traits. External factors are personality, group formation, team
cohesion, motivation, arousal, anxiety, and confidence. Most leaders in the sport industry
possess common knowledge of the same psychological factors. All good leaders have past
experience which allows them to use their prior knowledge to overcome difficult scenarios they
might have encountered previously. Most leaders in sport will have an elite understanding of the
internal psychological factors as they are an attribute of a person and links to their personality.
The external factors are where leaders start to differ from each other. External factors are
influenced by the environment around you that impact your behaviour. Some elite leaders may
not know how cohesive the team is or the group formation because they are prescribed and
specifically brought in to fill that role. An example of this is when Erik ten Hag joined Manchester
United as the manager from Ajax. To help with his vision of the club and help create a cohesive
squad, he signed 2 players from his previous club to Manchester United, Lisandro Martinez and
Antony.
When playing for my football team, I used my past experience of playing football to realise how
quickly a counterattack can happen and how to stop it from happening. When my team had a
corner kick, I instructed one of the smaller, faster players on the team to sit on the edge of the
box, so he is in a better position defensively. This factor can also link with Owen Farrell’s past
experience as a rugby player as he has suffered many defeats in the past, so he knows how to
handle situations where he does not get the result he wanted. He was on the losing side of a
heavy 30-19 defeat in a quarter final, however from that game himself and the team came back
stronger which allowed them to play well for the rest of the season. This resilience shown by
Farrell can link to the attribution theory. This is a type of motivation where someone will have a
reason for their success or failure. Farrell could use this to his advantage to try motivate his
teammates and become an even better leader by hypothetically, saying that the reason the
team lost is because they did not train hard enough in training. This may lead to a chain reaction
where the players take on board what Farrell said and start to put more effort in during training,
and as a result of this, the performances in games will become better.
Owen Farrell’s skills for a captain are elite as he is able to motivate his teammates to perform
better and demand the best form everyone on the team which displays his communication and
