Chapter 6
Leadership in Sports: The
Critical Importance of Coach
and Athlete Leadership
Many factors determine a team’s success- sometimes it comes down to the power of
strong and credible leadership.
Leadership effectiveness can be enhanced through a conscious commitment to
learning about, experimenting with, and assessing strategies and behaviours.
The objective nature of sport reinforces the practice of behaviours that produce
winning results, providing extra incentive for teams to invest time and energy in
refining their understanding and applications of the behaviours that become
leadership.
The Evolution of Leadership Theory
Leadership can be seen as a complex phenomenon.
The Evolution of Major Leadership Theories:
THEORY FOCUS
Trait Theories Innate qualities; great “man” theories
Behavioural Theories Task and relationship related; style
theories (autocratic vs. democratic)
Situational Theories Demands, organization, and characteristics
of people in specific situations
Exchange and Path Goal Models Relationship between leader/ follower;
series of trades
Charismatic, Visionary and Inspiration/motivation
Transformational Leadership Theories
Leadership in Learning Organizations Creative and collective process;
distributed leadership
, Spiritual/Authentic Leadership Post-charismatic and post-
transformational leadership
Outlined below are a few of these integrated approaches to leadership whose key elements
are directly applicable to sport.
1. Transformational Leadership Theory
Transformational Leadership Theory describes a course of action where both leaders
and participants engage in a mutual, ongoing process of raising/lifting one another to
greater levels of motivation, moral reasoning, and self-consciousness.
By appealing to social and community values, transformational leadership encourages
collaboration and interdependence, including the follower as an essential element of
leadership (teamwork in sport).
Within this theory, every participant has the potential to lead, and leadership is not
based on position or title, but rather on the development of individual potential and
performance to promote positive action toward the achievement of team goals.
There are four (4) primary components of Transformational Leadership, namely:
Idealized Influence: Leaders are people who behave in ways that allow them to serve
as role models and that result in admiration, respect, and trust from participants. In
sport, coaches and team captains earn the respect of their team members through
leadership by example and modelling team standards.
Inspirational Motivation: Leaders motivate and inspire their teams through purpose
and challenge. Great coaches and captains identify meaningful roles that put athletes
in positions to succeed. Recognition of small wins accumulates and contributes to
overall team morale are paid. Participants are engaged in helping leaders create an
exciting and attractive future.
Intellectual Stimulation: Leaders and participants' efforts are more creative and
innovative as a result of questioning assumptions, reframing problems, and
encouraging creativity in one another. Buy-in by athletes is greatly enhanced when
team members are involved in pre-season team development sessions including
goalsetting, brainstorming action steps, and systems of accountability. Follow-through
on the suggestions of athletes goes a long way in building trust and ownership of team
ideals. Encouraging athletes to continue learning about leadership is also a great way
to spark creativity and intellectual stimulation.
Leadership in Sports: The
Critical Importance of Coach
and Athlete Leadership
Many factors determine a team’s success- sometimes it comes down to the power of
strong and credible leadership.
Leadership effectiveness can be enhanced through a conscious commitment to
learning about, experimenting with, and assessing strategies and behaviours.
The objective nature of sport reinforces the practice of behaviours that produce
winning results, providing extra incentive for teams to invest time and energy in
refining their understanding and applications of the behaviours that become
leadership.
The Evolution of Leadership Theory
Leadership can be seen as a complex phenomenon.
The Evolution of Major Leadership Theories:
THEORY FOCUS
Trait Theories Innate qualities; great “man” theories
Behavioural Theories Task and relationship related; style
theories (autocratic vs. democratic)
Situational Theories Demands, organization, and characteristics
of people in specific situations
Exchange and Path Goal Models Relationship between leader/ follower;
series of trades
Charismatic, Visionary and Inspiration/motivation
Transformational Leadership Theories
Leadership in Learning Organizations Creative and collective process;
distributed leadership
, Spiritual/Authentic Leadership Post-charismatic and post-
transformational leadership
Outlined below are a few of these integrated approaches to leadership whose key elements
are directly applicable to sport.
1. Transformational Leadership Theory
Transformational Leadership Theory describes a course of action where both leaders
and participants engage in a mutual, ongoing process of raising/lifting one another to
greater levels of motivation, moral reasoning, and self-consciousness.
By appealing to social and community values, transformational leadership encourages
collaboration and interdependence, including the follower as an essential element of
leadership (teamwork in sport).
Within this theory, every participant has the potential to lead, and leadership is not
based on position or title, but rather on the development of individual potential and
performance to promote positive action toward the achievement of team goals.
There are four (4) primary components of Transformational Leadership, namely:
Idealized Influence: Leaders are people who behave in ways that allow them to serve
as role models and that result in admiration, respect, and trust from participants. In
sport, coaches and team captains earn the respect of their team members through
leadership by example and modelling team standards.
Inspirational Motivation: Leaders motivate and inspire their teams through purpose
and challenge. Great coaches and captains identify meaningful roles that put athletes
in positions to succeed. Recognition of small wins accumulates and contributes to
overall team morale are paid. Participants are engaged in helping leaders create an
exciting and attractive future.
Intellectual Stimulation: Leaders and participants' efforts are more creative and
innovative as a result of questioning assumptions, reframing problems, and
encouraging creativity in one another. Buy-in by athletes is greatly enhanced when
team members are involved in pre-season team development sessions including
goalsetting, brainstorming action steps, and systems of accountability. Follow-through
on the suggestions of athletes goes a long way in building trust and ownership of team
ideals. Encouraging athletes to continue learning about leadership is also a great way
to spark creativity and intellectual stimulation.
