According to Northouse (2016, p. 238), “the model of servant leadership consists of three components: antecedent conditions, servant leader behaviors, and outcomes”. The main component of this leadership model is that the “leaders put followers first, share control with followers, and embrace their growth” (Northouse, 2016, p. 240). This is one of the few types of leadership theories where the leader shares control and cannot impose this type of leadership with followers who do not want to share in this theory.
Mentioned above, this model consists of antecedents, behaviors, and outcomes. This is similar to many studies on behavior of human beings. So, what’s key to this leadership theory is what specific behaviors the leader uses to be a servant leader. According to Northouse (2016), there are ten characteristics of a servant leaders. Those characteristics are: “listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, building community” (Northouse, 2016, p. 227-229).
When watching the National Hockey League (NHL) game, Chicago Blackhawks versus St. Louis Blues, which aired Monday 4/25/2016 at 8:00 pm eastern time, there were some examples of the servant leadership. I will use the chart listed on page 232 in the Northouse (2016) book to emphasize the antecedent, behaviors, and outcomes which I saw.
Looking at the chart you can see that I put that there was a fight in the game. For the servant leader behaviors I wrote that the Chicago teammates were displaying the behavior of helping followers grows and succeed. This may sound crazy but as you watch the game you can see that a player of the St. Louis Blues team took a weak shot at the goalie of the Blackhawks team once they had blocked the puck. So, the Blackhawks teammates were getting in a fight to stick up for their goalie and the weak shot that the Blues took basically after the play had finished. Now, I acknowledge that this may be a stretch but there are many fans who even feel that a fight is appropriate in sports such as hockey to get the point across.
I also did not have enough room in the chart but I feel that the commentators as well as the coaches are Servant leaders. Just as it was mentioned above, commentators and coaches are servant leaders because within their roles they “put followers first, share control with followers, and embrace their growth” (Northouse, 2016, p. 240). The commentators give credit to certain players and plays and really talk up the teams and their players to their followers and fans. Furthermore, coaches do a lot of their servant leadership behind the scene. They definitely share control with their players and embrace their growth and even put faith that the training they provide their players with will be enough to win the game. For the St. Louis Blues that was the case.
References
Northouse, P.G. (2016), Leadership: Theory and practice. (7th ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage Publications.
Robert Richie says
Being a hockey goalie myself I had to respond to this Blog once I came across it. My response will focus particularly on the fight that occurred in this game, despite being frowned upon by some the act of fighting in the sport of hockey can at times be seen as an act of servant leadership.
First and foremost a well timed fight in a hockey game most definitely can have a positive impact on followers and their performance, this is true not only with the fellow players but with the fans as well. When a player gets into a fight not only does it spark energy on the bench it sparks a response from the fans as well, it makes the players skate that much harder and the fans cheer that much louder and as a result can have an influence on organizational( in this case the teams) performance.
Additionally the act of getting into a fight to in the case stick up for another member of your team( the Chicago goalie) “enhances team effectiveness by increasing the members’ shared confidence that they could be effective as a work group”(Northouse,2016, pp.237). Within the hockey world no one wants to be on a team with fellow players that they feel wont stick up for one another when things get rough, so while this might not be the typical application of servant leadership it is nonetheless a reality in the hockey world.
The notion of enhancing team effectiveness brings me to the point at which I would like to introduce that not only is the act of fighting in the sport of hockey a indicator of servant leadership but could also be considered an act of team leadership as well.
According to Northouse and based on the Hill model of leadership “two critical functions of team effectiveness are performance(task accomplishment) and development(team maintenance)”(Northouse, 2016, pp. 368). Of course in this instance the performance function is to win the game, but for purposes of this response I want to stick with the development function. Once again referring to the work of Northouse “development refers to the cohesiveness of the team and the ability of the team members to satisfy their own needs while working effectively with other team members”(Northouse, 2016, pp. 368). Focusing once again on the act of fighting in the game of hockey what make it an act of team leadership geared towards the development function is the dual function the fight itself serves, first, it satisfies the desire of the player who got in the fight to protect his teammates. Second, it serves the greater good of “team cohesiveness” in sending a message to fellow teammates as well as the other team that “I am going to stick up for my teammates and you will not get in the way of us achieving our common goal by attempting to injure one of our players.”
References
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Rahul Kiran Khandke says
Even though, I am very unfamiliar with the intricacies involving hockey, I feel that I can relate to your post with my vast understanding of basketball. In your post, you mentioned that the coaches for each team share control with players, fuel their growth and place faith that they will use whatever knowledge given to them to the best of their ability. An excellent example of these types of behaviors that you are describing can be found through head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, Gregg Popovich. As a coach, he has gained five championships for the Spurs and has maintained an outstanding winning career record for total games coached. He is most definitely, a servant leader who at times may seem cold and stoic on the outside but has wholeheartedly earned the attention and respect from his players, organization and fans with his undeniable passion and love for the game.
Northouse (2016) mentions that servant leaders prioritize developing and keeping strong relationships with followers thus as a result they are usually long-term. Popovich is a prime example of this due to his close relationships with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili who have never left the Spurs or have ever dreamed of doing so. This has been pivotal for the organization because these three players throughout their careers have won multiple championships united and have grown as individuals together. Additionally, when a culture of servant leadership is developed it spreads through an organization and encourages followers to behave in selfless ways (Northouse, 2016). An example of this can be seen through the fact that numerous players have left other teams to become a part of what Popovich has to offer such as Danny Green, LaMarcus Aldridge, Patrick Mills and Boris Diaw just to name a few. However, what is truly amazing about his system, is the fact that he doesn’t need to do much convincing to get other players interested and his present players are more than willing to help bring people in that will buy into the ideals that they follow particularly he prefers players with a sense of humor (Finkel, 2015). Lastly, servant leaders share their power with followers and encourage individual growth along with teaching them to be autonomous (Northouse, 2016). This can be seen through the way he behaves when coaching his team on the court, or rather empowers them, by making them understand and grasp that the game is fully in their control which can be difficult for players to see at times when in the midst of a stress induced arena filled with raging fans (Freeman, 2014). He also encourages his player’s to talk to each other while on the court and this further facilitates ideas and solutions for what can be done when faced in certain situations offensively and defensively (Freeman, 2014).
Gregg Popovich is a unique coach whose leadership style pairs with servant leadership based on the actions and behaviors that he makes. The foundation of his coaching relies on the fact that he is not out there physically playing the game with all of his players nor does he try to pretend to be (Freeman, 2014). Along with having this mindset, he creates an environment where players feel more than comfortable with each other to express themselves and this is what ultimately has fueled the many successful years that he has brought to the Spurs organization. Right now, the only other coach in the league who can even remotely compare themselves to Popovich is head coach of the Golden State Warriors, Steve Kerr who has been tremendously impressive within his few years of coaching but has not yet reached close to the level of success Popovich has throughout his career. Within due time, perhaps he can also gain those same achievements and follow in the footsteps of his coaching mentor.
References
Northouse, P. (2016). Trait approach. In Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Los Angeles, California: Sage Publications.
Finkel, J. (2015, October 13). Forces of Character: A conversation with Gregg Popovich. Retrieved May 01, 2016, from http://hoopshype.com/2015/10/13/forces-of-character-a-conversation-with-gregg-popovich/
Freeman, E. (2014, March 6). Spurs coach Gregg Popovich explains how he gets players to buy into his system. Retrieved May 01, 2016, from http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/spurs-coach-gregg-popovich-explains-how-he-gets-players-to-buy-into-his-offensive-system-224429957.html