Servant Leadership in Sport

Theory and Practice

Gregory S. Sullivan

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9783030112486
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Strategy
• Index: Business

This book applies the principles of well-being theory and positive psychology to sport to establish a basis of servant leadership in sport organizations. Though the win-at-all-cost mentality is pervasive in sport, leading to acceptance of leadership styles more associated with controlling and extrinsic motivators, the author proposes need satisfaction based on three psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and belongingness, which leads to enhancedjob performance, job satisfaction, andwell-being. Through need satisfaction, servant leaders positively influence organizational outcomes by enabling followers' growth and well-being. This book will make a new contribution to sport management research in applying the principles of positive psychology toservant leadership andto sport.

© The Author(s) 2019

Gregory S. SullivanServant Leadership in SportPalgrave Studies in Workplace Spirituality and Fulfillmenthttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11248-6_1

Begin Abstract

1. Servant Leadership in Sport: Theory and Practice

Gregory S. Sullivan¹

(1)

Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA

Gregory S. Sullivan

Email: [email protected]

End Abstract

Introduction

“Oh, that sounds great” was the typical reaction I received from colleagues, friends, and family when I told them I was writing a book about leadership. It wasn’t the “oh, that sounds great” reaction you would get about an upcoming trip or a new job, but more like the polite reaction you would get from telling someone you bought them a fruitcake for their birthday. That reaction wasn’t unexpected considering the number of books, journal articles, blogs, videos, and podcasts there are about leadership. There is no shortage of information on the topic of leadership; a quick Google search of the word leadership returned “about 3,560,000,000 results (0.66 seconds).” I would then explain the book was about servant leadership and it received a little more interest (and fewer Google returns) and even more interest when I shared it was about servant leadership in athletics; everyone loves sports. Finally, I offered that I would be viewing servant leadership in athletics through the lens of positive psychology and the conversations really started to get interesting and thought-provoking. I have discovered in the past few years that as much as everyone loves sports, people are almost equally interested in positive psychology and their own potential well-being . By the end of the conversation, the feedback was “oh, that sounds really interesting” and from the questions and comments (and suggestions!), I could tell it was sincere. So allow me to briefly introduce each of these concepts (servant leadership , servant leadership in athletics, and positive psychology ) before I introduce the leadership model in this introductory chapter. The balance of the book will go into great detail about each component of the leadership model.

The term servant leadership has been in the leadership nomenclature for close to fifty years but the construct has been around considerably longer. Simply put, it is an other-centered approach where the leader is solely focused on the needs, growth, and well-being of their followers. Over the past two decades, there has been an increased interest in servant leadership for a number of reasons. First, there has been a concern about continued ethical crises in business, politics, and sports. Ethical transgressions in college athletics seem to be a cost of doing business. A ten-year study revealed that 96 of 351 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I programs were found guilty of major violations. Over half (56%) of the schools in the Power Five (major) conferences were punished for violations ranging from recruiting violations, eligibility violations, unethical conduct, and improper recruiting to lack of institutional control (Lederman, 2016). Ethical behavior is embedded within servant leadership due to its focus on serving and growing followers, foresight, and organizational stewardship (Keith, 2015).

Second is the growth in the number of working Millennials (those born between 1983 and 1994) and their expectation of personal development within the workplace (Barbuto & Gottfredson, 2016). It is estimated that Millennials represent anywhere from half to 75% of the current workforce and have very different expectations from prior generations about the meaning of work in their lives. The 2018 Deloitte Millennial Survey (a survey of over 10,000 Millennials from around the world) stated that Millennials are “eager for business leaders to be proactive about making a positive impact in society – and to be responsive to employees’ needs” (p. 2). Third is the growth of the positive psychology movement of the past two decades. The primary thrust of the movement and the concept of well-being are that most of the elements of well-being are contingent upon, or enhanced by, our positive relationships with others. Chris Peterson (2006), one of the founders of the movement, summarized positive psychology in just three words: “other people matter” (p. 249).

There is still much to be learned about servant leadership —it is a much misunderstood construct. Many believe that servant leadership is a technique that can be adopted and applied for better results; however, true servant leadership emanates from within and a desire to serve others. Servant leadership is built upon character and one’s ability to serve others. Robert K. Greenleaf wrote the seminal essay on servant leadership, Servant as Leader, in 1970 and highlighted the importance of placing follower needs first. The proposed model in this book represents a divergence from Greenleaf’s ideas and proposes that one’s ability and desire to serve others are built upon personal well-being and need satisfaction. Eleanor Brownn, a self-care expert, said that one cannot serve from an empty vessel. It is proposed that our vessel is filled through our personal well-being and need satisfaction, and they are both needed to best serve the needs of others. Need satisfaction is foundational to well-being, and there is a great deal of evidence to be shared to support that claim (Ryan & Deci, 2017). There is also a pervasive belief that it takes a special person to be a servant leader but proposed here is that it simply takes a person that enjoys the process of becoming their best and who is willing to be proactive in their desire to flourish. A substantial part of that process will come from one’s relationship with others and how that enhances well-being; well-being is enhanced as others succeed and become their best.

Servant leadership is probably more pervasive than we know; leaders are serving their followers in myriad of ways but not using the term servant leadership —a developed understanding will enable those leaders to do even more. There is also the misunderstanding that servant leadership represents a “soft” approach to leadership but as you will learn, servant leaders are demanding and hold followers accountable for their actions—it is just done in supportive ways.

This book is written for those working in athletics but more importantly for those wanting to work in athletics, our students. Burton and Welty-Peachey (2013) stated that leadership change in athletics is possible from external and institutional pressures and when “new actors emerge” (p. 366). Introducing servant leadership concepts to the next generation of athletic administrators and coaches will enable those new actors to emerge and create a paradigm shift in how we lead in athletics. Most leadership development approaches focus on leader behaviors with very little attention to beliefs and values that support those behaviors (Brendel, 2014). It is fair to say that even fewer approaches focus on character and well-being either. This is an attempt to remedy that within an athletic context and perhaps beyond. There are many excellent leadership theories, approaches, and styles with quality research to support them all. However, Sundheim (2014) argued that many of these leadership theories become proxies for actual leadership and “people don’t follow five-tiered triangles, four box matrices, or three concentric circles. They follow real people.” Despite some use of boxes and arrows in this book, I concur with Sundheim’s assessment. Servant leadership is also well researched but it is also more than a theory, approach, or style, but rather, it is a way of life. The need and desire to serve others are a reflection of who you truly are. If you are looking for the approach with a specific outcome in mind—a championship or a big-time job—this is probably not the approach for you—even though those things might happen. If they do happen, it will be as a by-product of enabling one’s self others to become the best version of themselves.

Athletics has had along reliance on the power model of leadership, and the idea of the heroic hierarchical leader, the white knight that solves problems by himself, is deeply entrenched and has not provided the best results. Consider this statement from a Carnegie Foundation report entitled, “American College Athletics”: “Intercollegiate programs have problems related to commercialism, professionalism, and the neglect of educational issues”—that is from a report issued in 1929. Current issues are very much the same and include the continued emphasis on entertainment and commercial values; a lack of athletes’ rights; gender inequities; racial relations; and precipitous declines in athlete well-being . Power is about control and a focus on outcomes and using people as a means to an end. In particular, athletes, as means to an end, do not enjoy need satisfaction and the evidence is mounting that it is having a very deleterious impact on their well-being (Wolanin, Hong, Marks, Panchoo, & Gross, 2015; Wolff & Shute, 2015).

With all that being said, I am extremely excited and optimistic about the future of athletic leadership in general. Followers will be demanding more of leaders ...