Reflection Paper

Leadership and Organization in Sport

10/6/201
It is hard for me to pick one specific leadership style for myself because my leadership
style changes depending upon the people I am leading, the situation I am in, and what I am trying
to accomplish. I am a basketball coach, and I find my players to be very different from one
another. Each player has different wants, needs, and motivations. One leadership style may work
with one player I am trying to get a point across to, but not another. I try to recognize and
appreciate the differences between my followers, then lead them based upon the style they will
best respond to for the situation that is occurring.

With that being said, if I had to pick a leadership style I most closely align with and follow I
would say it is transformational leadership. Transformational leadership involves having high
morals and values, creating a vision for the future, implementing change, motivating your
followers, being innovative, and empowering your followers. One of the most important aspects is
making sure you lead by example and practice what you preach. Transformational leaders develop
a high level of trust and relationship with their followers - but because actions speak louder than
words, all it takes is one misstep to ruin their followers’ trust in them. It is vital that
transformational leaders are good role models to their followers, which is what I strive to be.

Last year I was a high school basketball and softball junior varsity head coach. This year
is my first year as the assistant women’s basketball coach at Johnson and Wales University. The
situation I am coming into is that the head coach is entering his second year and is working hard
to transform the culture of the women’s basketball program. Prior to his start, the culture was
very negative - the old coach would swear and yell at the players; the players in turn hated him
and would not work hard for him. When the new coach began, many of the players’ attitudes and
actions still reflected that, and he has tried to work through this issue but there is still work to be
done. My transformational leadership style has impacted what I do by allowing me to work with
the head coach to implement change and a vision for the basketball program. We are working to
establish direction and goals for everyone to come together and work on accomplishing. The two
of us are changing the organizational culture, as we work to create a positive atmosphere in which
there is no swearing at the players, players are rewarded for their hard work, et cetera. Our
efforts have seen improvements already, as there is becoming a sense of respect and trust for us
from our followers. We must continue to work hard to develop that trust even more, to motivate
our followers to accomplish the goals we have set, to reward our followers for a job well done, and
to inspire our followers to even bigger things in the future.

There are several components of my style that will enhance a sports organization. I have
a natural ability to set goals for myself and my followers. This provides direction and vision, which
can help a sports organization out tremendously. Secondly, I have strong morals and values, and
I work to model these values through my actions. I am a coach, which means I deal daily with
young people who are still developing into the adults that are going to become. Many players
state that their high school and college coaches had a lot of influence on them becoming who they
are, and I realize the important role I play in modeling good behavior for them to learn from. A
third component of my leadership style that enhances a sports organization is my ability to inspire
and motivate people. The college basketball season is the longest season of any college athletic
program, and the daily grind of practice can wear on players. I have a talent in making people
want to work hard, knowing the practice they put in will help them in the future.

There is one very important change I would like to make in order to grow as a professional
and become more effective and efficient. Throughout my life thus far, I have set lofty goals for
myself and have become a bit of a perfectionist as I work towards these goals. As a result, I have
had a hard time adjusting to delegating various jobs to people, because I have a clear vision of the
quality of work I expect. In order to become more effective and efficient, however, I must work
hard at developing trust in my followers to do a good job, and work to empower them so they can
grow into new roles. This will help the relationship aspect of my leadership style, and will help the
organization overall as everyone can contribute more.

The organizational structure I would strive best in as a manager or leader would be one
established upon the element of vertical differentiation. In this situation, the structure of the
organization is based on the “the number of levels in a sport organization’s hierarchy” (Slack,
2006, p. 64). This is the general structure for a college athletic program, in which I work today
and see myself working in the future. I would strive best in this situation because I would have
the people I lead, my players, directly under me and reporting to me. Yet I would have a leader
above me, the athletic director, whom I would be held responsible to. I like to have power and
responsibility for leading my players, while at the same time being held responsible to someone
above me for my actions. The athletic director would in turn have someone leading him, such as
the president of the institution, which would help ensure that everyone is doing their part to help
the organization perform to the best its capabilities.

The organizational culture I would strive best in as a manager or leader would be a thick
organizational culture which sets high goals, has strong morals and values, and includes all
employees in the expressions of our culture. I strongly believe that having “rites, ceremonies,
rituals, myths, symbols, language, and stories” (Slack, 2006, p. 276) unites everyone in the
organization. Having a thick organizational culture leads to increased motivation, effectiveness,
and job satisfaction. This is what I will strive to create as a leader of a sports organization
someday.

I would evaluate my growth as a leader in a sports organization by first observing the

organization and seeing what it was like prior to my taking the leadership role. I will look at things
such as the structure, culture, vision, goals, motivation of employees, and quality of work
produced. This will give me a basis to judge myself and my growth as I take on the leadership
role. After a little time has passed, I will look at the organization again, and see what has
changed. I can also take surveys of my employees, asking questions that will help me judge their
motivation levels, job satisfaction, and effort. Lastly, I can look at production levels and quality of
production, to see if they have increased. I can then examine where the organization has come
since I took on the leadership role, see my growth, and determine the next step.

References

Slack, T. & Parent, M. (2006). Understanding Sport Organizations, The

Application ofnOrganization Theory. Human Kinetics, 2. 64, 276.