Leadership

PSYCH 485 blog

Servant Leadership in Sports

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Throughout this lesson we learned about what a servant leader is, what their characteristics include, and what strengths and weaknesses they can provide to an organization. A servant leader is there to provide assistance to their followers needs, and some of their main characteristics include: empathy, awareness, foresight, and commitment to the growth of the people/organization. I chose these specific characteristics to list because they stood out most to me, and I feel like these characteristics are the most apparent in today’s society. The strengths of the servant leadership approach include the focus on developing rather than guiding/directing, and making ethically sound decisions. These strengths motivate and unify groups to where it overall improves production and efficiency. The weaknesses of the servant leader approach is moralistic overtones, and the lack or research that can support concepts within this theory.

Servant leadership can be apparent in almost any organization or group; however, I feel like it is most apparent in sports. The second I went through this lesson I was immediately able to make a connection that of my personal life, regarding my old basketball captain. My old basketball captain could not have fit the servant leadership profile more accurately. His sole purpose day in and day out, whether it was practices, workouts, or games was to physically, emotionally, and psychologically prepare us for any task that comes in our direction. He displayed the such empathy and commitment to the growth of our team that it motivated and pushed us all the way towards winning a championship. He was the team captain and through his attitude and work ethic he seemed as though he was more concerned with the development of the team than the development of himself. This selflessness he demonstrated to our team allowed us to really connect with one another while not having the fear to ask for help. His role as team captain was simply to be the leader of the team, however he took it upon himself to be a servant leader that consistently looked to help others.

This theory really stuck home with me because I know how powerful these leaders really can be. Their ability to devote their time and attention to assisting the needs of others is one of the most motivating behaviors I can think of. This leadership behavior strikes inspiration towards the entire group or organization because it shows selflessness. Knowing that your leader generally cares about your development, it translates to the rest of the group, where everyone wants to help everyone reach their full potential. The honesty servant leaders display creates a great sense of trust within an organization and in turn, the organization develops into a brighter future. Overall, this has been my favorite theory to learn about and I believe there are far more intangible benefits that can be associated with this leadership style through more research.

 

References: Hamel, R. (n.d.). Lesson 9: Team Leadership, 2021

Leadership and Followership in Sports

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When people talk about leadership, they typically tend to emphasize on the leader. Normally even the study of leadership is focused on leaders (Hamel, 2021). What most people do not consider when speaking about leadership is the followers. The followers are a big part of leadership even though it is in most cases forgotten about. The leadership process is affected by the followers’ expectations, personality traits, ability levels, and motivation (Hamel, 2021). The last part of leadership that is also forgotten about in most cases is the so called “situation”. The situation is “how leaders and followers interact in certain situations” (Hamel, 2021). The situation is hard to pinpoint since it can be a large variety of things. However, the situation is in many cases a good indicator of how strong leadership is.  

I have played team sports since I was little and have always been surrounded by a lot of different people with different values. Playing sports usually brings out different traits in people. Teams have different dynamics and people have different roles on the team. It was quite early on that I started to realize the importance of leadership in sports. Leadership is a concept that is talked about a lot in sports. Even though leadership has been a big part of my athletic life, it took me many years to realize that leadership is something that one or a few people alone cannot create. I have had great coaches and amazing individual leaders that I have had the privilege to play with. However, what I have learned throughout the years is that a great leader alone cannot create great leadership without great followers.  

Followers who share similar goals and values as a leader and who feel rewarded for performing well are more likely to put in more work than someone who is only monetary motivated (Hamel, 2021). In sports, leaders can be coaches or individual players. Regardless of who you consider to be the leaders of the team, the followers are just as important. When a team has followers that can buy in to the values of the leaders, they will most likely be more motivated to put in the extra work that the team needs. Personally, as an athlete, I know that when you have leaders that you believe in and respect, you are much happier and more motivated to go to practice and work for the team. I have first-hand seen teams where everyone plays for each other because the team has leaders that everyone wants to follow. Leadership is like a two-way street; it needs both good leaders, and good followers to be successful. 

When talking about the “situation” in a sports scene I think about the ups and downs throughout a season. Regardless of how good of a team is, it will always have ups and downs. A big indicator of how strong leadership is, is when things are not going well for a team. Seeing how the team reacts and deals with a hard situation is a good way to determine how good leadership is. Like mentioned before, this is an interaction between the leaders and the followers. How are the leaders behaving when challenged? How are the followers receiving potential negative feedback? I have seen many interactions between leaders and followers throughout my career. Some interactions have been bad and have had a negative effect, even making the situation worse. However, some interactions have been great where a leader has been able to get the followers on the same page, ultimately resulting in an upward trend on the team. The leadership process is complex in sports. I have added a figure from (Northouse, 2013), as framework about how leaders and followers together create leadership which eventually leads to outcomes.  

Figure 3.2. A mutually constructed process (Northouse, 2018, p. 305).

Leadership is everywhere, whether it is in school, at a workplace, or in sports. What we cannot forget about is the importance of followership. I have been exposed to leadership throughout my athletic career and have learned how important it is. I have also learned have extremely complex leadership is and how it is impossible to have good leadership without good followers. Followers contribute to the leadership process just as much as leaders do. I inspire everyone who has been felt like they have had good leaders in the past to go back and think about the followership in that scenario. I believe that most of us will notice how big of a role it plays. Whether in sports or in other areas of life, followers should not be forgotten about.  

References:

Hamel, R. (2021). Lesson 1: Introduction to Leadership

Hamel, R. (2021). Lesson 3: Followership

Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications

 

Leaders on the Field

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In the arena of American football, there is one recognized leader: the head coach. The relationship between these leaders and their teams is important for a successful season. By definition alone, the Leader-Member Exchange is a focus on the dyadic relationship between the leader and their followers (Northouse, 2016). This is only one of the leadership theories that are applicable to the arena of professional sports. Under the Path-Goal theory, sports teams are ruled by the need for achievement-oriented leadership. This is defined as a leader who sets a high standard of excellence for followers and seeks continuous improvement (Northouse, 2016).

These two theories, in this scenario, go very much hand-in-hand. Achievement-oriented leaders expect a lot from their followers, but if they don’t have a good relationship with their followers, their words and directions will fall on semi-deaf ears. The leaders could also have an excellent relationship with their followers, but if they don’t have a high enough standard or don’t give the right direction to the team, they won’t achieve much.

In the NFL, results are the benchmark of success. More often than not, when the team doesn’t perform, the coach (and sometimes the General Manager) is fired. Last year alone, four coaches were fired from the NFL: Jim Harbaugh from the 49ers, Mike Smith from the Falcons, Marc Trestman with GM Phil Emery from the Bears, and Rex Ryan with GM John Idzik from the NY Jets (Burke and Farrar, 2014). Three of those teams had losing records; the 49ers and Harbaugh parted company on mutual agreement after an 8-8 season. At the end of every season, at least one coach or manager is unemployed due to the team’s performance.

My Pittsburgh Steelers have only had three head coaches since 1969. Chuck Noll’s four Super Bowl wins over six seasons granted him leave during the late 1980s when the team, to tell it from a fan’s perspective, sucked. He even won Coach of the Year in 1989 because he took a low talent team who spectacularly lost their first two games to the second round of the playoffs. His successor in 1991, Bill Cowher, started off strong and kept the team going to the playoffs, including a Super Bowl win, almost every year. After Bill’s retirement, Mike Tomlin has been guiding the team to post-season appearances almost every year since, including a Super Bowl win making him the youngest man to head coach and win one in NFL history (www.steelers.com). This consistency in leadership has led to the Steelers being held as role models for other teams to follow.

The Steelers coaches and management have a very good relationship with their players and have had a record for supporting the players off the field. I am not talking about those in the news lately with criminal issues. I am speaking of keeping Aaron Smith on the roster when he was out for the season in order to maintain his health insurance so his son who had leukemia could maintain his treatments. I am speaking of making sure there was a spot open for Rocky Bleier, first drafted by the Steelers in 1968 and then drafted by the US Army in 1969, who came back with a potentially football-career ending foot injury from a shrapnel grenade to play in four Super Bowl wins (maryrose, 2009). Both of these stories and others you don’t hear about are because the Steelers leadership is just like that with their players.

Relationship notwithstanding, the goals of any sports team is to win. With a league topping six Super Bowl wins, the Steelers have proven that not only are they a team with a good leader/follower relationship, but they have high standards of excellence and demand only the best from their players. That has led to a respect of and near reverence to the franchise by players like Rod Woodson and Kordell Stewart, who left the team to go elsewhere but came back to retire a Steeler. This showing of leadership is also reflexive to the NFL as the name Rooney is well respected throughout the league. The sportsmanship award for the NFL is named after founder Art Rooney, Sr. Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the award unveiling, “Art Rooney is an iconic figure in NFL history. It is appropriate that we honor his legacy in this way and recognize NFL players for one of the important values that he represented so well.” (Bouchette, 2015)

Since 1933, the Rooneys have owned and managed the team with its ups and downs, and to this day remains a steadfast example that the LMX theory combined with achievement-oriented leadership produces not only one of the best known and best loved teams worldwide, but a winning one to be studied and imitated throughout the sport.

 

References:

Northouse, P. (2016) Leadership: Theory and Practice. Washington DC: Sage Publications. pp. 159, 180.

Burke, C. and Farrar, D. (29 Dec 2014). NFL Black Monday Tracker 2014. Sports Illustrated online. Retrieved 24 Oct 2015 from http://www.si.com/nfl/2014/12/29/nfl-black-monday-coaches-fired-tracker?page=3&devicetype=default

Steelers official Website (n.d.) Mike Tomlin Biography. Retrieved 24 Oct 2015 from http://www.steelers.com/team/coaches/mike-tomlin/4bf07eef-17d9-4b67-b634-c20700be0670

maryrose (19 Aug 2009). 40 Years Ago Today in Steelers History: Rocky Bleier Fights Back. Behind the Steel Curtain. Retrieved 24 Oct 2015 from http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2009/8/19/990365/40-years-ago-today-in-steelers

Bouchette, E. (22 Jan 2015) NFL sportsmanship award named in honor of Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 24 Oct 2015 from http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2015/01/22/NFL-sportsmanship-award-Pittsburgh-Steelers-founder-Art-Rooney-Sr/stories/201501220271

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