Leadership in sports organizations

The paper describes a multidimensional model of leadership which specifies three states of leader behavior: leader behavior required by the situation, leader behavior preferred by the members, and the actual leader behavior. These three states of leader behavior are defined respectively by the situational characteristics such as the goals, size and structure of the organization and the nature of the work group and its norms; the characteristics of the members such as their personality and ability; and the leader's characteristics such as his personality and ability. The degree of congruence among the three states of leader behavior determines the performance of the group and the satisfaction of the members. Based on the model and on Blau and Scott's (1969) typology of organizations, the paper suggests specific leadership styles appropriate to the various types of sports organizations. Further, leadership styles appropriate to recreational sport and to different levels of athletic teams are also suggested.