My son is on the wrestling team at his high school. He has been wrestling for many years and has loved all of his coaches through the years. They have all had their own style of leading, but the main thing that they had in common is that there leadership would change based on the situation.
The current high school coach takes great care in getting to know every team member. If he needs to, he goes as far as to help them with school work, home problems, girl issues, and so on. The boys have a lot of respect for the coach and are evident when he walks into the wrestling room. The boys will give the coach a hard time in fun, but when it is time to get down to serious work, they do that and will give them their all. If the coach tells them they need to work on a particular move, they do it without resistance.
At matches, the coach tells them what to focus on against the person they are wrestling and the boys listen.
Depending on the team that they are taking on, the coach will push the team harder or back off. He also does this with each wrestler individually. The coach has been able to figure out who he needs to push and be more of a dictator with and the ones that respond better to being pushed with more encouragement and praise.
When the boys do well, he tells them. He is always proud of them, even if they lose the match, as long as they tried their best. Due to this fact, the boys give it their all when on the mat and at practice. They have much pride in their team and are supportive of each other due to the way the coach leads them.
The situational approach that the coach is using is referred to as the coaching approach. In this approach the leader is focused on both the goal achievement and on the emotional/social needs of the subordinates (Northouse, 2013). I feel that due to this high school team being at the top of their division more years than most, it is a very effect way to handle a wrestling team.
Reference:
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Ed. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.