- Decision making processes
- Motivational techniques
- Giving feedback
- Establishing interpersonal relationships
- Confidently directing the group
Leaders are different from managers, managers plan, organise, budget, schedule and recruit leaders determine how a task will be completed.
People become leaders in different ways not all are appointed. Prescribed leaders are appointed by a person in authority for example a chairman appointing a new manager, or a manager appointing a coach or a principal appoints a teacher. .emergent leaders emerge from a group and take over responsibility for example David Beckham emerged to become the leader of the England team. Emergent leaders are often more effective as they have a respect for their own group members.
Theories of leadership
Sports psychologists have sought to explain leadership effectiveness for many years and they have used the following theories and methods to help understand effective leadership behaviour.
Trait approach
In the 1920’s researchers tried to show that characteristics or personality traits were stable and common to all leaders. Thus to be a great leader you needed to have intelligence, assertiveness, independence and self confidence. Therefore a person who is a good leader in one situation will be a good leader in all situations.
Behavioural approach
The trait approach says that leaders are “born” but the behavioural approach says that anyone can become a good leader by learning the behaviour of effective leaders. Therefore this approach supports the view that leadership skills can be developed through experience and training.
Interactional approach
Trait and personal approaches look at personality traits. The interactional approach looks at the interaction between the person and the situation. It states the following:
- effective leaders cannot be predicted solely on personality
- Effective leadership fits specific situations, as some leaders function better in certain circumstances than others.
- Leadership style needs to change to match the demands of the situation. For example, relationship-orientated leaders develop interpersonal relationships, provide good communication and ensure everyone is feeling good within the group. However task orientated leaders are concerned with getting the work done and meeting objectives.
Fiedler’s contingency theory
Fiedler’s contingency theory tried to analyse and explain the apparent link between a leader’s personal qualities or leadership style and the situational requirements of the task. He emphasised that the effectiveness of a leadership style is contingent on the overall situation and can’t just be determined by assessing the leader’s traits or behaviour. He identified and used two types of leadership style to highlight his findings.
- Task centred leader – a leader who focuses on setting goals, getting the task done, meeting the objectives, performance and productivity.
- Relationship centred leader – a leader who focuses on developing and maintaining good interpersonal, is considerate and permissive.
According to Fiedler, how effective each of these styles of leadership was depended on the favourableness of the situation for example certain situations suit certain styles of leadership. The favourableness depends on three factors:
- the quality of the leaders relationship with the rest of the team or group
- the leaders position of power and authority and resources available for them to use to carry out the task
- The structure of the task itself.
Autocratic leaders
This type of leader adopts a very authoritarian style generally based on strong rule structures. They tend to be very inflexible, make all the decisions and rarely get involved on a personal level with group or team members. They are very task orientated.
Democratic leaders
This type of leader will only make decisions after consulting the group itself. They are usually more informal, relaxed and active within the group than the autocratic leader. In addition, they show a keen interest in the various people within the group. They are prepared to help and explain appropriate feedback and encouragement.
Laissez-faire
This type of leader leaves the group to get on by themselves and generally plays a passive role. They do not interfere, either by directing or co-ordinating. Being generally unsure of the task they tend not to make or give any positive or negative evaluations.
Chelladurai’s multi dimensional model of leadership related to sport
By bringing together the many positive aspects of different research and contingency models Chelladurai put forward his sport specific multi dimensional model in 1980.through his model he argued that the style adopted by a leader in sport, and its relative effectiveness, depended not only on the demands and constraints of the situation together with the characteristics of a leader, but also on the characteristics and demands of the group.
