The head coach of a football team with an unfavorable record used a leadership style called "romance of leadership" to motivate the players. He made each player feel unique and important to the team through individual attention and motivational speeches. This approach boosted the players' confidence and kept them focused on improving their performance for the rest of the season. While it risked some players leaving the team if they did not respond well to this style, the coach was able to identify those at risk of quitting and appeal to their potential. This showed the players that with belief in themselves, they could achieve more.

1. Critical Reflection
A leadership crisis situation that you were involved in. If you observed someone else handle
something either very well or very poorly, you may write about that instead.
1. What happened? (Background, brief description of events, specific leadership actions)
What were the results? (Real or potential. Try to include both positive and negative
possibilities. Even if the event seemed clearly good or bad, consider unintended
consequences.)
I was coaching a football team, with boys between 17 and 19 years old, and we were in the middle of the
season with an unfavorable record of games won versus games lost, therefore this directly impacted on
the self-esteem of the players and their desire to keep playing the rest of the season.
The head coach had a specific leadership style, romance of leadership, he involved each player and made
them feel that they were unique to the team, he also tried to give motivational speeches before each
practice, so that the players respected and idolized him, seeing him as a role model.
The constant motivation and confidence that the head coach provided to the players, gave them enough
confidenceand strengthtokeep playing the rest of the season, finally reaching a playoff game. The positive
side of this situation was that the team members maintained their focus on the season, continued the hard
work and improved their performance since the beginning of the season, but on the other hand, there was
a risk, that not all players have the same reception of the head coach´s form of leadership, and they were
even able to leave the team and not finish the season, but he managed to identify the needs and main
motivators of the boys who wanted to resign, and make them see that they can be better football players
and individuals. Inthis way he got players to seetheir ownpotential and how far they cango if they believe
in themselves.
2. Why did this happen? (Consider all possible factors, including the people and the situation)
In each team, no matter what type, there are different profiles, some members may react faster to an
adverse situation by providing different options to solve the problem, but other members will have more
difficulty processing situations that could make them feel disappointed or frustrated, therefore it exists a
high risk that they will abandon a certain activity or decrease their performance, instead of looking for
better solutions to the problem.
So when you have a team with people from different cultures, backgrounds and preparation, it is common
that they have different perspectives on how to face a difficult situation and the solutions, so they can start
to haver conflicts between each of them or they could even start to separate from each other, and this will
directly affect the performance of the team, as we saw in the example of the football team.

2. 3. What class concepts are relevant to this situation? (Mention at least one concept from class
and how they can be used to interpret the situation.)
Romance of leadership is the main concept that it can be identified in this situation, mainly because as we
saw in the course classes, people sometimes need something or someone to be inspired of and that helps
them to staymotivated, in order to stay focusedontheir objectives and keep workingas a team. Therefore,
in this situation theplayers hadthe need to have a role model, whomakes them feel empoweredtocontinue
the rest of the season.
4. What did you learn from this? (Broader lessons that might apply to other situations or
problems.)
There are different situations that will challenge each of us to adapt to the type of
leadership, that we need in an specific moment, so the most important thing to get out of
this is to know the people who work in our team, identifying their specific needs and the
qualities that they have, so that they can contribute to the objectives of the whole group,
and it is also very important that once you know each one of the members of your team,
you will be able to know how to approach them as individuals and as a group, you can also
count with the right words and tools to motivate your team and face all adverse situations
that may arise in the futures as a team.