Forty Years of Leadership Research in Sport Management: A Review, Synthesis, and Conceptual Framework

Abstract

Scholars have recognized the importance of leadership in the sport industry; early sport leadership studies emerged in the 1970s. To date, however, there has been no comprehensive review of the scholarly leadership studies in sport management. Thus, the purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the sport management leadership literature from the 1970s to the present day, to outline what has been learned, and then, drawing from this synthesis, to articulate a preliminary conceptual model capturing how leadership operates in sport management. A number of clear themes in sport management leadership research and conceptual thinking have emerged, with the proposed conceptual model advancing several leadership antecedents and processes unique to sport. Intriguing directions for sport management leadership scholarship are also illuminated. Although progress has been made, many questions and gaps remain that require focused attention from sport management leadership scholars.

Sport Leadership: A New Generation of Thinking

“…In what way have we (sport management scholars) kept pace with this new generation of leadership thinking? While we thought our field of sport management was perhaps too small to limit a special issue on sport leadership to submissions orientated toward the social construction of leadership, we did encourage approaches that considered multilevel analysis (Burton, 2015;Fink, 2008;Welty Peachey, Damon, Zhou, & Burton, 2015) and fresh approaches to leadership. As explained by Welty Peachey et al (2015) in their 40 year review of leadership research in sport management, multilevel analysis of leadership research includes individuals, dyads, teams, groups, and organisations.…”

“…A multilevel approach to leadership expands on a foundational bias in the literature toward researching traits and characteristics of individual leaders (often white, male) (Burton, 2015) where leader-centred perspectives and theories such as transformational, transactional and charismatic, have taken prominence (Welty Peachey et al, 2015). A response to concerns about the leader-centric focus (sometimes referred to as the hero leader -often propagated by the sports media) has been the emergence of follower-centred perspectives on leadership (UhlBien, Riggio, Lowe, & Carsten, 2014).…”

Servant Leadership and Its Impact on Ethical Climate

“…Because individuals learn by paying attention to and emulating attitudes, values, and behaviors of credible role models (Bandura, 1977(Bandura, , 1986, athletic directors must be explicit and consistent in communicating values-based messages (Brown & Mitchell, 2010;Roby, 2014). Burton and Welty Peachey (2013) and Welty Peachey et al (2015) called for increased servant leadership in intercollegiate athletics. Our study supports one approach could be for athletic directors to demonstrate servant leadership characteristics and nurture ethical work climates.…”

“…These findings do not appear congruent with the espoused philosophy of placing the highest priority on the overall quality of educational experiences and successful completion of students' academic programs (National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2016). Burton and Welty Peachey (2013), Welty Peachey et al (2015), and DeSensi (2014) called for a refocus of leadership within athletic departments of NCAA-member institutions to emphasize servant leadership. Servant leadership may be a natural fit for NCAA Division III athletic directors based on the division's philosophy.…”

The Leadership Orientations of the Students Receiving Sports Education in Turkey

“…Within sport leadership specifically, the sport psychology discipline has traditionally concerned itself with on-the-field team aspects of sport leadership (e.g., the coach leading the team), whereas the sport management discipline has centered more on leadership in the conventional off-the-field aspect of sport (e.g., the athletic director providing leadership to an intercollegiate athletics department). To date, however, there has been no comprehensive review of the sport management leadership literature (Peachey, Zhou, Damon, & Burton, 2015).…”