LEADERSHIP / 004 [DO COACHES LOSE AUTHORITY WHEN THEY SHARE LEADERSHIP?]

Question
Does giving players more leadership make the coach look weaker?

Study
776 players and 64 head coaches from 64 football, volleyball, basketball and handball teams in Belgium, men and women, at national and lower levels, took part. Players rated every teammate and their coach on four leadership roles: on the field, motivation, team atmosphere, and representing the team to the outside.

Findings
No team had a pure top down structure: in every team, leadership was shared to some degree. Teams with more and better leaders among the players rated their coach as a better leader, in all four roles. The best pattern was many good leaders in the team, with a small group that stood out. The captain was often not the best leader in every role.

What It Means for Athletes
Many coaches fear that empowering players costs them authority. This study suggests the opposite: true leaders create more leaders. It was measured at one moment, so we don't know what causes what, but the fear of losing face seems unfounded.

Try this: coaches, ask every player who they see as the best leader in each of the four roles. Give those players responsibility in that role, even if they're not the captain.

Source
Fransen, K., Mertens, N., Cotterill, S. T., Vande Broek, G., & Boen, F. (2020). From autocracy to empowerment: Teams with shared leadership perceive their coaches to be better leaders. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 32(1), pp. 5 to 27.

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