The Role of Leadership in Team Sports. Education Essay

Role of Transformational Leadership in Team Sports
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Role of Transformational Leadership in Team Sports
Introduction
Leadership is a term that has been defined severally. These definitions appear to differ in subtle ways but two things remain universal. These two include the presence of a leader and a follower or followers. In leadership, there needs to be one person who takes the position of a leader and another person or people who take up the position of followers. Aside from the presence of a leader and followers, there is also the issue of leadership styles. Every leader has a preferred style of leadership. Some leaders choose to be democratic and therefore, tend to involve their followers in their decisions. Others tend to be autocratic and this means they consider themselves to be the highest form of authority. Such leaders do not listen to anyone and everything starts and ends with them. Aside from the styles of leadership, there is the issue of personal traits or attributes that people have that makes them fit within the leadership roles they are given. So, while looking at leadership in any aspect of life, it is crucial to consider the above factors. However, in this particular article, the focus is on one style of leadership and how its use in team sports impacts or influences followers.
Transformational leadership is a type of leadership style “in which leaders encourage, inspire and motivate employees to innovate and create change that will help grow and shape the future success of the company” (White, 2018). As the name suggests, transformational leadership is one that seeks to inspire change and adaptation for the sake of growth. The main goal of this leadership is to ensure consistency in growth and avoid the unpleasantness of stagnation. In the sports industry as in life, change is the only constant thing. Every year, people get to experience change as rules change, teams become better, and the coaching also changes. These changes prompt or require a response in people because when people choose to remain the same, they are either overwhelmed or toppled. As a leader of a sports team, one has to be ready to embrace the intricacies of transformational change. These should help ensure that a team is not only built to last but that it can adapt to change. When people learn to appreciate and prepare for the inevitability of change, it becomes easier to adapt and maintain relevance for a long time.
Dealing with change is often easier said than done. Change can be scary and because of its uncertainties, it is common to find people who are fearful of change. However, Weston (2015) offers guidance on how to deal with change. She mentions several things with the first one being acknowledging the inevitability of change. People can try to run away from change or refuse to accept change. However, none of these things can prevent change. Therefore, the first thing one needs to do is accept that change is inevitable. Weston goes ahead and says that it is also crucial to maintain a high level of flexibility. Being flexible is crucial and Johnson (2017) notes that “being open to new challenges and approaching change with an attitude of learning helps leaders and followers better adapt to change.” So, it is crucial to maintain a high level of flexibility. Another key piece that can help people deal with change is communication. Often, leaders make the mistake of not communicating with their followers about change. However, as Weston (2015) notes, people need to communicate about change. Followers, she said, need to ask questions and take the initiative of finding out more information about the proposed changes. Communicating fears can also make it easier for a team to deal with change, and to make the necessary adaptations.
Importance of Transformational Leadership
One crucial importance of transformational leadership is that it helps ensure individual growth and development. As already indicated, transformational leaders inspire and motivate their followers. However, for collective effort to be registered, individual growth has to take place. In life, people have their own goals and interests. Even while in a team, people still have goals and interests. Often, these individual goals and interests interfere with the greater goal of the team. For example, a football player could have the goal of being the best scorer in the world. In the pursuit of their goal, such an individual can easily lose touch with team goals, and it is the responsibility of a leader to make sure that individual goals do not get in the way of team goals. As Schieltz (2019) notes, “transformational leadership helps transform members of a group into individuals who transcend beyond self-actualization and their own self-interests for the sake of the group or organization.” In sports, this is quite crucial as it helps ensure that everyone in a team is working towards the team’s goals and not their individual goals.
Aside from individual growth and development, transformational leadership also helps to focus an entire team towards the goals of the team. As indicated above, transformational leaders help individuals see beyond their personal goals and interests. Aside from this, they also help unite a team towards a single goal or purpose. Steinmann et al. (2018) write that transformational leadership helps enhance goal importance on followers. Goal importance is “the significance an individual assigns to a certain goal and its achievement relative to other work- or non-work-related goals” (Steinmann et al., 2018). The significance an individual assigns a goal mimics or showcases their commitment to a particular goal. As Steinmann et al. (2018) explain, goal importance helps to align “one’s feelings and actions to the accomplishment of the specific goal.” The essentiality of transformational leaders in sports comes in where they help ensure their followers are able to converge around a single goal and commit their efforts and energies towards the attainment of such goals.
Another importance of transformational leadership is that it helps enhance the performance of teams. When the members of a team are motivated, it becomes easier to enhance performance expectations. As already stated, transformational leaders seek to encourage and motivate their followers, and this aspect of this style of leadership helps to build resilience and confidence in the team members. In the end, people come to hold themselves in high regard and to expect more from themselves. Aside from the above, there is also the issue of trust which is also enhanced as a result of transformational leadership. Trust in teams is crucial and when team members trust each other’s’ abilities, performance enhancement can be easily attained. Chou et al. (2013) note that “cognitive trust is grounded in the beliefs regarding others’ ability and reliability to accomplish a task.” By helping team members trust in themselves and in their peers, collective efficacy can be enhanced. Bandura (1997) defined collective efficacy as “a group’s shared belief in its conjoint capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to produce given levels of attainment.” It is only when people share a common goal, a shared belief in themselves and in their abilities that they can be expected to improve their performance. The statement above is supported by Chou et al. (2013) who add that collective efficacy has a “positive impact on team performance.”
Transformational leadership is also important because it helps motivate and inspire team members. Team motivation and morale are crucial to the success of the team. A motivated group is one that believes in themselves and their capabilities. It is a group that is focused on their goals and one that is ready to do everything to achieve their goals. Johnson (2017) writes that with transformational leadership “the focus shifts from the leader to the followers and transformational leaders are cognizant of the needs and motives of the followers.” So, such a leader looks to build on the pride of their followers. Additionally, they also look to inspire and move their followers to trust and believe in themselves. With the focus being on the followers, it becomes easier to give personalized attention and to enhance individual confidence. Burton and Peachy (2009) write that transformational leaders inspire, intellectually stimulate, and offer personalized attention to their followers. They inspire by “communicating high expectations, using symbols to focus efforts, expressing important purposes in simple ways” (Burton and Peachy, 2009). They also offer personalized attention by treating every member of the team individually while also offering guidance and advice. While doing this, they motive their members to work harder and to focus on attaining team goals.
Key Questions
Some of the key questions that one needs to ask themselves while studying or researching about transformational leadership and its role in team sports include:
* How does transformational leadership help promote the mental state of members of a team?
* What are some of the impacts of transformational leadership on team sports?
* What are the pros and cons of transformational leadership in team sports?
Core Discussion about Transformational Leadership
One of the key issues that warrant discussion regarding transformational leadership is its impact on the mental state of members of a group or a team. Li et al. (2019) write that “transformational leaders frequently focus on providing support, teamwork, sharing experience, autonomy in decision making, and authorizing the implementation of ideas, which could boost employees’ innovative behavior.” They continue to write that transformational leaders also help to create an environment where followers “feel knowledgeable, self-managed, capable, and motivated to practice empowerment.” The above influences the psychological state of employees and followers by making them believe in themselves. Understanding the psychological state of members of a team is one of the most crucial bits of leadership. A leader who knows how to take care of the psychological or mental state of their followers understands the importance of having a team that is psychologically prepared to handle any task on their path. Psychological empowerment mainly involves the aspect of a leader uplifting their teams and instilling self-belief in them. There is also a sense of responsibility that comes with psychological empowerment as members take it upon themselves to make decisions rather than follow orders from the leader. So, aside from enhancing the mental or psychological state of members of a team, transformational leaders also help ensure that their members are confident in themselves by dispensing that sense of responsibility to not only themselves but to the entire team and its goals.
In sports, it is possible to credit the physical state of athletes or to give credit to an athlete’s commitment to their training regimen. However, it is crucial to understand how transformational leadership drives people towards a greater level of discipline and the adoption of values that lead to excellence. Northouse (2013) notes that transformational leadership “is a process that changes and transforms people. It is concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals.” Transformational leaders know how to drive athletes towa...