A Leadership Development Intervention Program: A Case Study With Two Elite Teams

Abstract

Most of the leadership training that team captains receive at the collegiate level consists of either receiving a list of books or articles about leadership or a list of responsibilities that they must do with little or no guidance or instruction. Still others will focus on this reading and/or responsibilities with active discussion in the off-season, yet when it matters the most, during the competitive season, time spent on leadership instruction and follow-ups becomes an afterthought at best. Due to the supposed benefits of improved leadership for sport teams, a leadership development intervention program was developed and applied to two NCAA Division I teams who were successful enough to make it to the NCAA National Championships in their sport. Program effectiveness was determined by the teams meeting not only their seasonal goals but exceeding the primary objectives of the leadership development program set by the leadership consultant and coaching staffs, in addition to the favorable feedback provided by the team to the captains during/after the season, and semistructured interviews of the captains postseason.

Athlete leadership in sport teams: Current understanding and future directions

“…Indeed, there is a significant body of research that has explored the development of personal leadership skills through sport (Gould, Voelker, & Blanton, 2012;Martinek & Hellison, 2009), but much less that has explored the development of leadership knowledge, skills and behaviours in athletes (Voight, 2012). Blanton, Sturges and Gould (2014) developed a youth leadership club in which US high school athletes shared leadership principles.…”

“…There are also a small number of examples in the literature of structured approaches to develop leadership skills in adult performancefocused athletes. Voight (2012), for example, implemented a 15-stage leadership development programme with two regional US volleyball teams. While the programme proved to be effective at this level, Voight recommended that future research should explore the delivery of similar intervention programmes at different levels (e.g., youth, recreational and professional levels).…”

“…Indeed, in reviewing current practice at the collegiate level Voight (2012) summarised that much of the leadership training that team captains received consisted of either receiving a list of books or articles about leadership or a list of responsibilities that they must do without guidance or instruction. Therefore more research is required exploring both the development and application of applied leadership development programmes.…”

“…There is little consideration of the specific role(s) of the captain, the skills, knowledge, behaviours and expertise required (Cotterill, 2013). Also, there has been little focused research exploring the challenges that athlete leaders face and the necessary on going developmental needs (Voight, 2012).…”

Preparing Footballers for the Next Step: An Intervention Program From an Ecological Perspective

“…Case studies are useful for gaining a better understanding of the processes behind the application and effectiveness of intervention programs (in this case, the intervention from assessment to evaluation) designed to improve performance and emotional and mental states (Voight, 2012). We also consider the current study as applied ethnography (Krane & Baird, 2005).…”