Exploring the emotional intelligence of leaders in governance of non-profit sports organizations: A voluntary vs. non-voluntary comparison

Abstract

Research and practice have overlooked the emotional intelligence (EI) of senior leaders in nonprofit organizations. Our research aims to explore and compare the EI capacity of two groups of such leaders; voluntary (i.e., presidents of sport federations) and remunerated (i.e., provincial directors of sports), in the sport governance system of Turkey. The results of a small-scale census revealed that voluntary leaders were older, had more years of sporting experience, and achieved significantly higher EI scores than their paid counterparts. A regression analysis to examine whether age and sporting experience predicted the EI scores returned positive results for age only. A priori and post hoc power analyses assured that results had sufficient power for practically meaningful implications (.95 and .85, respectively). These results suggest that sports-governing non-profit organizations can benefit from some EI training for the development of their leaders, including those younger and with limited sporting experience. We discuss the implications of our findings within the metamorphosis of sports governing bodies from a non-profit organization to a more business-like entity.

Emotional Intelligence, Motivational Climate and Levels of Anxiety in Athletes from Different Categories of Sports: Analysis through Structural Equations

“…In collective sports, emotional intelligence rises and the levels of trait-anxiety fall; this is explained by the fact that in this category of sports, pressure endured by athletes during training sessions and competitions is distributed between members of the team [ 69 ]. In addition, levels of state-anxiety are negatively related with emotional intelligence in both categories, due to the fact that in sports individuals confront stressful situations that will raise their levels of anxiety, and they are able to control this situation if they improve their emotional abilities [ 70 , 71 , 72 ].…”

Sociometric Status of Adolescents and Sport Orientation: Case Study

“…It should stress encouraging the development of social skills, which are acquired with the relationship among peers, as well as a relationship with teachers. Emotional intelligence, that is, the ability to control emotions affects academic success, as well as achievement in sports (Lozovina, Bonacin & Lozovina, 2012). Emotional stability is influenced by many factors, but most certainly acceptance by group members is an important factor that will contribute to success in school, as well as sports.…”