LEADERSHIP / 002 [WHAT MAKES A GREAT LEADER IN SPORT?]

Question
Are leaders born, or can you learn to lead?

Study
In this practical book chapter, two leadership experts combined research, examples from top sport and their own experience running leadership programs. It is an overview, not a new study.

Findings
Leadership can be learned, and formal training is linked to stronger leadership skills. It works on three levels at once: leading yourself, leading the people around you, and shaping the team culture. The authors describe five behaviours of strong leaders: lead yourself first, give a clear direction, connect with people, give others responsibility, and support them with honest feedback after good and bad days. They also mention seven traits of the greatest captains in history, from a journalistic book: relentless focus, playing hard right up to the limit of the rules, doing the thankless jobs, a low key and democratic way of communicating, passionate body language, the courage to stand apart, and strong emotional control.

What It Means for Athletes
You don't need a title to lead. Leadership starts with how you behave yourself, and grows when it becomes part of how the team works every day. Note that much of this is based on practice and examples rather than hard evidence.

Try this: write down three values you want to stand for as a teammate, and one standard you never compromise on. At the end of the week, check whether your actions matched.

Source
Ammary, J. S., & Janssen, J. (2020). Leadership in sport: The critical importance of coach and athlete leadership. In J. M. Williams & V. Krane (Eds.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (pp. 100 to 118). McGraw-Hill.

BEHIND THE SCIENCE
Translating sports science into information athletes can actually use.