Based on Northouse’s Chapter on the Trait Theory, there were many studies done by Stogdill, Mann, Kirkpatrick and Locke and others that have given many different traits and characteristics (Northouse, 2019, p. 22). Through all of those studies there have been five central traits including: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability (Northouse, 2019, p. 23).
Intelligence is defined by Northouse as “having strong verbal ability, perceptual ability and reasoning (Northouse, 2019, p. 24).” A leader’s intelligence should not be too different from their followers because that can lead to difficulty communicating and getting the leader’s ideas across due to the ideas being too advanced for the followers to be able to understand (Northouse, 2019, p. 24). There are a few different types of intelligence. In the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence, there are three different types of intelligence: analytic intelligence, practical intelligence, and creative intelligence. Analytic intelligence is mainly problem solving. Practical intelligence is based on the “street smarts” that show how one can adapt to new situations. Creative intelligence is being able to come up with ideas that are new and helpful (PSU WC, 2020, lesson 2). In athletics, these three different types of intelligence are very important. In both games and practices, one needs to be able to solve problems as well as create new ideas to be able to fix these problems. One example in particular is in Field Hockey, if a corner play is continually not working the girls on the field are able reconfigure the play to make it successful and score a goal. This example shows how the leaders on the team, also known as the captains, uses their analytic intelligence, their practical intelligence and their creative intelligence. The captains saw the problem, not being able to score on the corner play, adapted to the problem, and created a new and useful idea and scored on the corner play.
Self-confidence is defined by Northouse as “the ability to be certain about one’s competencies and skills (Northouse, 2019, p. 24).” It includes the leader’s self-esteem, self-assurance as well as the leader’s belief that they can make a difference. Self-esteem is said to be the amount of value that one sees in themselves. There is a recent study has shown that student-athletes have higher self-esteem than none athletes (Galante & Ward, 2017, p. 158). When an athlete does not possess self-confidence, it is hard for them to lead the team because they are already doubting their ability and skills. It causes them to be to question the decisions that they make because of their own personal doubt. When a leader on the team does possess self-confidence, they are 100% sure in their abilities and skills. Self-assurance is when the leader is aware of their self-knowledge and uses that knowledge to understand the effect that they have on the team. When a leader is self-aware they understand the impact, they have on the team and they use it to motivate the team to do the best that can in any and every situation (Bandura & Kavussanu, 2019, p. 1). They also believe that they have the ability to make a difference. Making a difference can mean many things, it can be through solving problems within the team, making decisions in the best interest of the team, and motivating the team. Leaders who are self-confident do not question whether or not they are making the right decision because of their confidence. A self-confident leader does not go back and forth when making a decision they are capable of making the decision that is right for not only them but for the team itself.
Determination is defined by Northouse as “the desire to get the job done and includes characteristics such as initiative, persistence, dominance, and drive (Northouse, 2019, p. 24-25).” When leaders are determined they are proactive and they show their dominant side when the team or followers need to be directed in a certain way (Northouse, 2019, p. 25). Determined leaders in athletics are the ones who set goals for themselves and for their teams. At the beginning of the season a team sets goals, the leader is the one who takes charge when creating goals and throughout the season they are the ones that drive the team to achieve these goals. They take charge throughout workouts whether it is during runs or lifting exercises they are there pushing the team to do better each and every day. When there are issues between team members they take the initiative to solve the problem so that everyone can get on the same page. They show dominance as well. For example, if there is a tough quarter or tough half the determined leader shows dominance by taking control and showing the team that they can come back and win this game and that the team is capable of winning. They are leading by example in a way because if the leader is determined and willing to do anything to win a game or to work harder in practice the team will follow their lead and give everything that they have to achieve the common goal.
Integrity is defined by Northouse as “the quality of honesty and trustworthiness (Northouse, 2019, p. 25).” A leader that shows integrity is one that has a strong set of principles, that takes responsibility for their actions, and inspires confidence. An integrity leader shows that they are worthy of trust and that they are loyal, dependable and not deceptive (Northouse, 2019, p. 25). There was a study done that measured the relationship between authentic leadership and task cohesion in relation to trust. The trust is discovered through a questionnaire which is the Trust in Leader to measure the amount of trust that the athletes have in the leadership of their team (Bandura & Kavussanu, 2019, p. 4). This study showed that trust did indeed mediate the relationship between authentic leadership and task cohesion. The more the leader was authentic the more the team trusted them showed a positive task cohesion (Bandura & Kavussanu, 2019, p. 6). For example, the more authentic the captains are the more the team will trust them and in return the more willing the team would be willing to do the tasks that the captains set out for them. If the captains of a team were to ask the team to set up and clean up the field before and after practice they team would be more willing to do it if they felt as though they could trust the leaders. In the same aspect, at practices during drills the team would be more willing to try their best in the drills if the captains or other leaders had asked them to give it 100%.
Lastly, sociability is defined by Northouse as “a leader’s inclination to seek out pleasant and social relationships (Northouse, 2019, p. 26).” A sociable leader is one who is outgoing, friendly, and diplomatic. They are sensitive to the needs of others needs as well as showing concern for their well-being. There is research that shows that when a leader has an unpleasant display, meaning that they are seen as unhappy, angry or disappointed, they are more likely to not be a great leader and have low ratings of leader effectiveness (Staw, DeCelles & Goey, 2019, p.1547). When leading a team, it is important for the leader to be outgoing and approachable. If they leader is not approachable it can cause many different issues on the team. For example, if the underclassmen are having issues adjusting to be new on the team and they do not see the captains as approachable they could quickly not feel like they are part of the team and slowly start to regret their decision being on the team. But if the leader of the team is sensitive to the needs of the team they are more willing to make the underclassmen feel as though they are part of the team. When the captains of the team are outgoing and approachable the team tends to do more things together as a whole such as: going out to eat together, planning things to do together on the weekends, hosting sleepovers for the whole team, and just hanging out together. When a leader is friendlier the team vibe as a whole is a lot more positive than when the leaders do not seek out interpersonal relationships.
To conclude, there were many leadership traits and characteristics found through studies during the past 70 years but five that have become central are: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, and sociability (Northouse, 2019, p. 23). All five of these are very important for sports leaders because the leader shows analytic, practical and creative intelligence, self-confidence when making decisions and leading the team, determination to make the team achieve their goals, integrity through trust that the team has in them, and sociability by being outgoing and pleasant while seeking out social relationships with the team.
References:
Bandura, C. T., Kavussanu, M., & Ong, C. W. (2019, August 26). Authentic Leadership and Task Cohesion: The Mediating Role of Trust and Team Sacrifice. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/gdn0000105
Galante, M., & Ward, R. M. (2017). Female student leaders: An examination of transformational leadership, athletics, and self-esteem. Personality and Individual Differences, 106, 157-162. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1016/j.paid.2016.11.017
Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2016). PSYCH 281 Lesson 2: Introduction to Trait Approach. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2040131/modules/items/28001665
Staw, B. M., Decelles, K. A., & Goey, P. D. (2019). Leadership in the locker room: How the intensity of leaders’ unpleasant affective displays shapes team performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(12), 1547–1557. doi: 10.1037/apl0000418
mrb5628 says
Great job on this blog! I like how you were able to closely tie the lesson material to athletics. Since it’s something everyone is at least familiar with, even if they’ve never played sports, it’s a very relatable topic where a good leader can be one of the biggest contributors to either winning or losing. I personally have very limited experience with sports, but I did play deck hockey for a few years. Although it should go without saying, as a new player, I was not good. I constantly lost the puck, found myself offsides, and generally made a mess of things. Thinking about your examples, the topic of my post for this assignment, and my past experience made me think there is an association between emotional intelligence (EI) and athletics in general which I was able to find research to support.
First, I want to explain a little more about the team itself. It’s harder than you think to find regular players on a D-league 30+ year old deck hockey team. I’m sure it might have helped if we had a regular goalie, forwards who could score, or more than one win under our belt after two seasons, but let’s put that aside for now. We had a lot of subs who would play a few games with the team and I noticed that people who played and seemed to have low EI (e.g. would get angry, yell at teammates, etc.) tended to only play one or two games and then quit. People who seemed to have high EI (e.g. played to have fun, didn’t get upset when the other team scored, etc.) tended to stick around longer. While this is just my personal observation, I found recent research that ties high EI to motivation to play sports in general (Sukys, Tilindiene, Cesnaitiene, & Kreivyte, 2019). I found the article interesting because it studied adult basketball players between 18-34 who were not playing ball competitively, but still liked to play. The researchers measured EI and motivation using self-report scales. They then used EI as the predictor variable and sport motivation as the dependent variable. After several regression analyses, they concluded that “…overall trait EI was positively associated with athletes’ more self-determined sport motivation” (p. 315). This study supports my observation on the deck hockey team because if someone isn’t regulating their emotions, losing all the time would have a higher negative impact than on someone who didn’t take it to heart.
Another study I found interesting was based around EI is associated with performance (Lane, Devonport, Soos, Karsai, Leibinger, & Hamer, 2010). This research once again used self-report measures for EI and emotions. The researches found correlation between high EI and emotions such as ‘…vigor, happiness, calmness, even when participants’ performance is below personal standards” (p. 390). Using the deck hockey example again, this could be a plausible explanation for why people who displayed high EI ended up playing more games than people who could not control their emotions. The type of people I am talking about are the ones who congratulate the other team because of their impressive goal. They didn’t let the negative emotions associated with losing get in the way of having fun and appreciating an impressive display of talent.
I like the example you provide around how if a captain seems unapproachable to underclassmen, that feeling of team unity will unravel. To take it a step further, what if the underclassmen just made a huge mistake on the field? Will yelling at them help the scenario if they already know what they did wrong? In cases like these, and many others that come to mind, EI can help that captain be sensitive to the needs of the underclassmen. These examples should help support why EI is important in sports from both a player and leader standpoint.
References
Lane, A. M., Devonport, T. J., Soos, I., Karsai, I., Leibinger, E., & Hamar, P. (2010). Emotional intelligence and emotions associated with optimal and dysfunctional athletic performance. Journal of sports science & medicine, 9(3), 388. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3761705/
Sukys, S., Tilindienė, I., Cesnaitiene, V. J., & Kreivyte, R. (2019). Does Emotional Intelligence Predict Athletes’ Motivation to Participate in Sports?. Perceptual and motor skills, 126(2), 305-322. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0031512518825201