Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2016-12
Leading from the top or leading from within? A comparison between coaches’ and athletes’ leadership as predictors of team identification,team confidence,and team cohesion
The present study used a sample of team sport athletes (N = 343) to investigate to what extent the leadership quality of the coach and the athlete leaders was related to athletes’ team confidence and team cohesion. The findings demonstrated that the leadership quality of both coaches and athlete leaders predicted a unique part of the variance of team confidence and team cohesion. In addition, members’ identification with the team was demonstrated to be an important mechanism underlying this relation, thereby supporting the Social Identity Approach to Leadership. We conclude that both coaches and athlete leaders can inspire players to identify with their team. In turn, this feeling of ‘us’, rather than being a group of I’s, predicts a stronger confidence in obtaining team goals and fosters the task and social cohesion within the team. When coaches share the lead with their athletes, an optimal team environment can be created.
HornTSCoaching effectiveness in the sport domain. In: HornTS (ed). Advances in sport psychology, Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008, pp. 239–267.
2.
De BackerMBoenFCeuxT. Do perceived justice and need support of the coach predict team identification and cohesion? Testing their relative importance among top volleyball and handball players in Belgium and Norway. Psychol Sport Exerc2011; 12: 192–201.
3.
GilletNVallerandRJAmouraS. Influence of coaches' autonomy support on athletes' motivation and sport performance: a test of the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Psychol Sport Exerc2010; 11: 155–161.
4.
HampsonRJowettS. Effects of coach leadership and coach–athlete relationship on collective efficacy. Scand J Med Sci Sport2014; 24: 454–460.
5.
CrozierAJLougheadTMMunroe-ChandlerKJ. Examining the benefits of athlete leaders in sport. J Sport Behav2013; 36: 346–364.
6.
CotterillSTFransenK. Athlete leadership in sport teams: Current understanding and future directions. Int Rev Sport Exerc Psychol2016; 9: 116–133.
7.
PearceCLSimsHP. Vertical versus shared leadership as predictors of the effectiveness of change management teams: an examination of aversive, directive, transactional, transformational, and empowering leader behaviors. Group Dyn-Theory Res Pract2002; 6: 172–197.
8.
ManzCCPearceCLMottJW. Don't take the lead … share the lead: surprising leadership lessons from big time college sports. Organ Dynam2013; 42: 54–60.
9.
MartensR. Coaches guide to sport psychology, Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1987.
LougheadTMFransenKVan PuyenbroeckS. An examination of the relationship between athlete leadership and cohesion using social network analysis. J Sports Sci2016; 34: 2063–2073.
12.
LougheadTMHardyJEysMA. The nature of athlete leadership. J Sport Behav2006; 29: 142–158.
13.
FransenKVanbeselaereNDe CuyperB. The myth of the team captain as principal leader: Extending the athlete leadership classification within sport teams. J Sports Sci2014; 32: 1389–1397.
14.
FransenKVan PuyenbroeckSLougheadTM. Who takes the lead? Social network analysis as pioneering tool to investigate shared leadership within sports teams. Soc Network2015; 43: 28–38.
15.
ReesCRSegalMW. Role differentiation in groups: the relationship between instrumental and expressive leadership. Small Group Behav1984; 15: 109–123.
16.
KleinertJOhlertJCarronB. Group dynamics in sports: an overview and recommendations on diagnostic and intervention. Sport Psychol2012; 26: 412–434.
17.
FransenKDecroosSVanbeselaereN. Is team confidence the key to success? The reciprocal relation between collective efficacy, team outcome confidence, and perceptions of team performance during soccer games. J Sports Sci2015; 33: 219–231.
18.
StajkovicADLeeDNybergAJ. Collective efficacy, group potency, and group performance: meta-analyses of their relationships, and test of a mediation model. J Appl Psychol2009; 94: 814–828.
19.
CarronAVColmanMMWheelerJ. Cohesion and performance in sport: a meta analysis. J Sport Exerc Psychol2002; 24: 168–188.
20.
LougheadTMHardyJ. An examination of coach and peer leader behaviors in sport. Psychol Sport Exerc2005; 6: 303–312.
21.
FransenKKleinertJDithurbideL. Collective efficacy or team outcome confidence? Development and validation of the Observational Collective Efficacy Scale for Sports (OCESS). Int J Sport Psychol2014; 45: 121–137.
22.
FransenKVanbeselaereNDe CuyperB. Perceived sources of team confidence in soccer and basketball. Med Sci Sports Exerc2015; 47: 1470–1484.
23.
KeshtanMHRamzaninezhadRKordshooliSS. The relationship between collective efficacy and coaching behaviors in professional volleyball league of Iran clubs. World J Sport Sci2010; 3: 1–6.
24.
FransenKCoffeePVanbeselaereN. The impact of athlete leaders on team members’ team outcome confidence: a test of mediation by team identification and collective efficacy. Sport Psychol2014; 28: 347–360.
25.
PriceMSWeissMR. Peer leadership in sport: relationships among personal characteristics, leader behaviors, and team outcomes. J Appl Sport Psychol2011; 23: 49–64.
26.
FransenKHaslamSASteffensNK. Believing in us: exploring leaders’ capacity to enhance team confidence and performance by building a sense of shared social identity. J Exp Psych Appl2015; 21: 89–100.
27.
FransenKSteffensNKHaslamSA. We will be champions: Leaders' confidence in ‘us' inspires team members' team confidence and performance. Scand J Med Sci Sports2016. (in press).
28.
ChelladuraiPSalehSD. Dimensions of leader behavior in sports: Development of a leadership scale. J Sport Psychol1980; 2: 34–45.
29.
ShieldsDLLGardnerDEBredemeierBJL. The relationship between leadership behaviors and group cohesion in team sports. J Psychol1997; 131: 196–210.
30.
VincerDJBakerAMLougheadTM. The role of athlete leadership in dyadic team sports. J Sport Exerc Psychol2007; 29: S209–S210.
31.
SmithMJArthurCAHardyJ. Transformational leadership and task cohesion in sport: the mediating role of intrateam communication. Psychol Sport Exerc2013; 14: 249–257.
32.
CallowNSmithMJHardyL. Measurement of transformational leadership and its relationship with team cohesion and performance level. J Appl Sport Psychol2009; 21: 395–412.
33.
PriceMSWeissMR. Relationships among coach leadership, peer leadership, and adolescent athletes' psychosocial and team outcomes: a test of transformational leadership theory. J Appl Sport Psychol2013; 25: 265–279.
34.
HaslamSAReicherSDPlatowMJ. The new psychology of leadership: identity, influence and power, New York, NY: Psychology Press, 2011, pp. 267.
35.
TajfelHTurnerJCAn integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In: AustinWGWorchelS (eds). The social psychology of intergroup relations, Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole, 1979, pp. 33–47.
36.
De CuyperBBoenFVan BeirendonckC. When do elite cyclists go the extra mile? Team identification mediates the relationship between perceived leadership qualities of the captain and social laboring. Int J Sport Psychol2016; 47: 355–372.
37.
SpinkKS. Group cohesion and collective efficacy of volleyball teams. J Sport Exerc Psychol1990; 12: 301–311.
38.
HeuzeJPRaimbaultNFontayneP. Relationships between cohesion, collective efficacy and performance in professional basketball teams: an examination of mediating effects. J Sports Sci2006; 24: 59–68.
39.
HeuzeJPBosselutGThomasJP. Should the coaches of elite female handball teams focus on collective efficacy or group cohesion?Sport Psychol2007; 21: 383–399.
40.
KozubSMc DonnelJ. Exploring the relationship between cohesion and collective efficacy in rugby teams. J Sport Behav2000; 23: 120–129.
41.
PaskevichDMBrawleyLRDorschKD. Relationship between collective efficacy and team cohesion: Conceptual and measurement issues. Group Dynam1999; 3: 210–222.
42.
LeoFMGonzález-PonceISánchez-MiguelPA. Role ambiguity, role conflict, team conflict, cohesion and collective efficacy in sport teams: a multilevel analysis. Psychol Sport Exerc2015; 20: 60–66.
43.
RamzaninezhadRKeshtanMHShahamatMD. The relationship between collective efficacy, group cohesion and team performance in professional volleyball teams. Brazil J Biomotricity2009; 3: 31–39.
44.
FransenKVan PuyenbroeckSLougheadTM. The art of athlete leadership: Identifying high-quality leadership at the individual and team level through Social Network Analysis. J Sport Exerc Psychol2015; 37: 274–290.
45.
TenenbaumGGershgorenLConclusions and recommendations: Toward a comprehensive framework of evidence-based practice with performers. In: LuiselliJKReedDD (eds). Evicence-based approaches to performance enhancement, New York, NY: Springer, 2011, pp. 249–262.
46.
TenenbaumGKamataAHayashiKMeasurement in sport and exercise psychology: a new outlook on selected issues of reliability and validity. In: TenenbaumGEklundRC (eds). Handbook of sport psychology, 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007, pp. 757–773.
47.
DoosjeBEllemersNSpearsR. Perceived intragroup variability as a function of group status and identification. J Exp Soc Psychol1995; 31: 410–436.
48.
MyersNDFeltzDLFrom self-efficacy to collective efficacy in sport: Transitional methodological issues. In: TenenbaumGEklundRC (eds). Handbook of sport psychology, 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2007, pp. 799–819.
49.
CarronAVWidmeyerWNBrawleyLR. The development of an instrument to assess cohesion in sport teams – The Group Environment Questionnaire. J Sport Psychol1985; 7: 244–266.
50.
BillorNHadiASVellemanPF. BACON: blocked adaptive computationally efficient outlier nominators. Comput Stat Data Anal2000; 34: 279–298.
HuLTBentlerPM. Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Struct Equ Model1999; 6: 1–55.
53.
Preacher KJ and Coffman DL. Computing power and minimum sample size for RMSEA [Computer software], http://quantpsy.org/ (2006, accessed July 2015).
54.
ZaccaroSJRittmanALMarksMA. Team leadership. Leadersh Q2001; 12: 451–483.
55.
FilhoETenenbaumGYangYY. Cohesion, team mental models, and collective efficacy: towards an integrated framework of team dynamics in sport. J Sports Sci2015; 33: 641–653.
56.
GreenleafRK. Servant leadership: a journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness, New York, NY: Paulist Press, 1977.
57.
RiekeMHammermeisterJChaseM. Servant leadership in sport: a new paradigm for effective coach behavior. Int J Sports Sci Sci Coach2008; 3: 227–239.
58.
HuJLidenRC. Antecedents of team potency and team effectiveness: an examination of goal and process clarity and servant leadership. J Appl Psychol2011; 96: 851–862.
59.
GillhamAGillhamEHansenK. Examining athlete, team, and coach variables across levels of coaching success. Int Sport Coach J2015; 2: 233–247.
