Leadership is represented all over the football field. In a recent game where the Detroit lions played the Cleveland Browns, one of the players took on a leadership role for the team. The coach is a leader when it comes to performance. This player, Tulloch, gave some motivation to the team on the side lines. They seemed to be down for the count but after this speech they came back and played each of their positions well which in turn made the group function as a whole. This is what a team is. A team has a hard time functioning without having any interaction with each other while working (Northouse, 2013).A football team cannot play well if each member of the team does not interact with each other and perform the role that they are there for.
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Leadership on the football field is very important. A football team is successful only when you have support from the top down to the player level. That is, ownership along with management must be in sync as to how they want their team to be successful, as well as who is going to lead that campaign. I believe football is a perfect example of how leadership works as well as how a team can become effective with the right leadership in place.
I think your example of a football player taking the lead in motivating his teammates is great because lets face it, a coach cannot do this all on their own. Tulloch I believe utilized the directing style of leadership, which focuses on communication on goal achievement while spending less time using supportive behaviors (Northouse, 2013). Often times during a course of a game, you have to be very direct with your teammates in order to succeed on the football field. Take for example the quarterback for the Denver Broncos Peyton Manning. Peyton is known for having a unique ability to recognize complex defenses and challenges, while directing and supporting his teammates to run a successful play. Peyton brings the best out of his teammates along with coaches and the organization by being direct and demanding of success along with being supportive. This is true often in the workplace as well, which is why this football blends so well in the workplace. Another example is Steve Jobs and the invention of the iphone. The iphone took the world by storm. Everyone wanted an iphone and I could remember reading in the news about people lining up to buy one. This success story of Steve Jobs could not become a reality without having a direct and supporting approach to leadership. This fosters creativity and ownership, which in Apple’s case led to a very popular product that is still going strong today.
Another leadership style that fits team leadership is the coaching approach. This approach focuses on communicating goals and objectives and meeting subordinates socioemotional needs (Northouse, 2013). This style requires that a coach be involved with his/her subordinates by being encouraging and soliciting input from them as well (Northouse, 2013). When times are tough, you always need someone to fill in the gap and take ownership and responsibility to lead. In this case, the Brown’s player Tulloch took the lead to motivate his teammates when they were down. By being a team, which encompasses ownership, management, coaches and players alike, it’s easy to get motivated for a common cause. There is no “I” in team and I believe that we have all experienced throughout our careers what selfishness brings to the workplace.
References
Northhouse, P.G. 2013 Leadership Theory and Practice (6th Edition). Sage Publications
A football team was a great example of team leadership. In this example there are a couple different leaders that you pointed out. Like you said there is the coach, and the quarterback, but there are also defensive coordinators and offensive coordinators that are more responsible for making sure the team members know the plays and are physically able to perform their tasks. All of these leaders are responsible for the tasks outlined in the Northouse chapter. These are diagnosing group deficiency, taking remedial action, forecasting environmental changes, and preventing deleterious changes. On a team the coach is responsible for noticing any players that are not performing up to their standards and taking action to fix this. Their options include moving the player to a different position, getting the player the physical treatment they need, or replacing the player with a different person so that the team may perform better. However, it is important the coach know when to continue monitoring the deficiency and when to actually take action. They must acknowledge that the player may fix the problem themselves, and must allow some time for this opportunity.
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership Theory and Practice (6th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Western
Michigan.