2. One of the key features of sports operations on the field of play, and also
the key to successful management of sport practice off the field is leadership.
Leadership must be provided in any industry to give direction pull everyone
together toward a common goal. If planning is to be affective someone has to take
everyone along with them towards the agreed target. Someone has to do the
pulling together and forward, as well as the motivation of others to keep them
going towards the same goal,
Tacitus
3. The style of leadership can vary from laid back to authoritarian depending
on the organization and the situation. However, It is usually inappropriate in the
voluntary situation, where we are trying to build a team, for too much of a
dictatorial presence to be present. The leadership style has to match the
requirement of any particular organizational situation and the best approach is the
one appropriate at the point in time.
A Bonar Law
4.
5. The real leader has no need to lead - he is content to
point the way. True strength lies in submission which
permits one to dedicate his life, through devotion, to
something beyond himself. Every man has his own
destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no
matter where it leads him.
6. Heading up any organization in the 1990s involves leadership
skill, It is quite different from the traditional style of leadership as it was
understood in the past. Today’s leader are required to focus and inspire
a learner, more demanding workforce. The structure of organization
has become flatter and most leader’s span of control has greatly
increased. Leaders have to develop followers, increase their
motivation, and active and promote positive changes in both
individuals and organizations.
7. A good deal of the leadership that can be achieved and
exploited, in a sports situation is down to personality and
charisma. Many people involved in sport are well endowed
with appropriate personality traits and are well used to getting
people to follow a leader. The ability to support, cajole ,
motivate and inspire people is part of this process, but this
inborn characteristic is crucially important where changes and
vision are required.
8. Charisma, like beauty, has been said to be in the eye of
the beholder, rather than something that can be worked on. It
is to some extent, the traditional ‘charmer’ linked to the
almost manipulative individual who can ‘convince’ people that
the chosen direction is the right one and make them follow
this charismatic lead.
9. In the area of sports management and management and
administration a great deal of effort is required to lead what is often a
committed and determined band of people towards a common identifiable
goal. The whole concept of leadership has been investigated by many
intellectuals and put into action by many practitioners over a long number of
years. The military influence in leadership is noted and scholars in the UK,
like John Adair, based their experience of militaristic applications of sound
practice derived from theories of human behavior.
10. Transactional or Transformational
One American guru of leadership – Dr Bernard Bass – has identified
what he calls transactional and transformational leadership. He sees
transactional leadership as based merely on “managing the status quo -the
situation as it exist and competently organizing round about that. He has
suggested in various books that it is necessary for a good leader to go
beyond the basic transactional level and more to transform individuals and
organizations by carrying them beyond basic performance levels.
11.
12. He identifies each of these as being vitally important
and it is suggested that sport and recreation managers will
benefit by putting such belief into practice and it will help
them carry out their role in the what is a very challenging
atmosphere. Sport involves enthusiastic, dynamic people
who need to have some significant inspirational leadership
to get the best out of them, and this is best for the
organization as well.
13. Sport like other business, requires improved leadership so
that innovation can be heightened, change managed and
entrepreneurship increased to make sporting organization more
effective as they move into the next century.
Like leaders in any situation, a degree of training and personal
development is required to ensure that individuals can lead
their organizations with creativity and into risk-taking
situations, which is necessary to see progress achieved in the
future.
14. it is important that leadership is seen as the job of the
manger, rather than one of supervision or control. He she
should try to lead the staff forward, encouraging all them
members to get involved and to get to a point where they are
clear about the objectives of the organization. To use an old
phrase: “tell me and I may remember, show me and I may see,
involved me and I will understand”. This type of approach is
certainly the most effective leadership approach for sport, as
for so many other situations. Staff, particularly volunteers,
cannot just be ordered about and must be involved in the
decision making and in agreeing in agreeing a course of
action.
15. LEADERSHIP QUALITIES IN THE SPORTS SITUATION
You don't need to be intellectually bright to be a competent leader
Sir Edmund Hillary
16. There is a great deal of debate between practising executives and
academics as to what exactly constitutes good leadership. There is,
however, some agreement that some technical expertise or ability in the
area in which leadership is being practised will help gain respect and get
people to follow the example given. This does not mean that they need to
know at all but they must show some understanding for the work that has
to be undertaken and some knowledge of what is required to work in
sport. If, after all, the leader knew everything then perhaps even he or she
would do everything themselves.
17. In sports management and administration, the leadership qualities required
are bit like beauty – in the eye of the beholder. But here is a list of the qualities the
author considers important:
technical knowledge
Integrity
Honesty
Inspiration
Commitment
Enthusiasm
Welling to work hard
Love of sport
Administrative ability
People skills
Sense of humour
18. A leader in any situation must be aware of individual needs, task needs
and group – maintenance needs if the dynamics of the individual and
groups are going to be combined successfully to get all the necessary
task completed.
This is a step beyond the basic concept of the hierarchy of
individual needs espoused by A H Maslow, which included
Physiological
Safety
Social
Esteem
Self actualization
19. It is vital to remember that while leaders are often thought to have some innate
qualities, they will also require to develop and add to these qualities. John Adair has
identified a number of skills which are relevant to the sports situation:
Defining the task
Having the ability to identify exactly what is required to be done
Planning
Briefing
Controlling
Evaluation
Motivating
Organizing
Setting
20. One area where sport is often sadly lacking is that of
establishing a training programme for its managers and administrators.
It has tended to expect a high level of commitment and innate ability
coming off the sports field into the organization, and so has tended to
believe that sport has people with the natural leadership ability and
does not need to train or support them in any significant way
21. Good leadership is the key to developing good team, but the
existence of a good leader does not automatically mean that the team
will be affective. There are other issues that have to be considered and
developed to produce a good affective team operation, and will be
considered now.
22. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice:
but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
Proverbs 29:2
