By: Dr. Dennis McCormick, Jr.Leadership Defined
The definition of leadership as defined by Weinberg and Gould (2019) is “the process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (p. 211). Many of the traits of leadership are considered to be things like motivation, high level skills and being able to use them under the pressure of a live game to succeed and being able to thrive in a team-based environment with a fabulous attitude and showing a great work ethic to model for the team. The other part of being a great leader (often overlooked) is being a great “follower” as well. Great leaders value other’s ideas and strategy within the team and will do everything in their power to help make these ideas come true. Leaders are also one of the first people to congratulate teammates for a job well done!
In the book, The Carolina Way by Smith et al. (2004), the authors speak about many traits of a great leader. The sentence that meant the most to me was the idea that great leaders will deflect any positive attention away from themselves to be humble and will often try to give teammates credit for winning. However, when the team loses, the leader steps up to the front “row” – so to speak, and will verbally take blame for the loss, even if they were not directly responsible (Smith et al, 2004). This diversion attempt is to draw attention toward him- or herself and away from lesser skilled teammates to protect them and keep team morale high.
Peer Leadership
Weinberg and Gould (2019) offered several traits that a peer leader would possess within a team structured sport. The key findings in their research include the following:
1) Peer leaders are found to have had higher perceived competence levels (they think they are good, or they know they are good, because they are) (Weinberg & Gould, 2019).
2) Peer leaders were more liked and showed positive behaviors, socially (Weinberg & Gould, 2019).
3) Peers leaders were much more self-motivated (Weinberg & Gould, (2019).
4) Peer leaders were better able to control the following traits better than peers – emotions, communication skills and work ethic (Weinberg & Gould, 2019).
5) Peer leaders helped to develop positive group cohesion, which is how the group gets along and functions as one team, instead of 12 individuals that are on a team (Weinberg & Gould, 2019).
6) When peer leaders frequently attempted to motivate, inspire or create around the team, the peer leader’s teammates reported that they enjoyed playing the game more, were interested in learning new skills and were more apt to take on a higher level challenge because of the peer leader modeling (Weinberg & Gould, 2019).
7) Peer leaders often provided a positive extension between the coach and players, they help mentor younger players, they help to provide positive feedback and boost team morale and they help to model how to mentally prepare for practices and games, all of which helped to create a much greater experience on the team (Weinberg & Gould, 2019).
Looking to the Future
As you read those incredible traits of what a peer leader was, go ahead an do some self-reflection and see where you stand within that list. Can you say you honestly have 2 of them? 4 of them? 6 out of 7 or even all of them? This could serve as your new motivation within your sport to become worthy of being considered an amazing and effective Leader. Make sure you remember the most important trait of them all! HAVE FUN!
Smith, D., Bell, G. D., & Kilgo, J. (2004). The carolina way: Leadership lessons from a life in coaching. The Penguin Press.
Weinberg, R. S. & Gould, D. (2019). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. (7th ed.). Human Kinetics.
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