Sports Ethics Leadership and Culture - Case Study Example

Sports Ethics Leadership and Culture Name Student ID Course Instructor Date Sports Ethics Leadership and Culture Introduction This paper is about reflective writing with regard to a case study response. The paper includes response to experiences, opinions, events, and the connection between theory and practice of leadership styles, communication, decision making, and change management with respect to the case study. The case study is about the Essendon Football Club supplements saga. The Essendon club is an Australian football club and the Australian Crime Commission has found out that the team leaders have condoned the use of illegal drugs among the team members. Leadership styles Leadership refers to the act of behavioral influence of team members towards achieving the set goals (Ishikawa, 2012, p. 265). Leadership has a very vital role and it is linked to the performance of the whole team. Additionally, leadership has essential impact of the kind of results observed in any organization and achievement of its goals. In football organizations, the leadership of the organization represents a demanding position where the individuals are held accountable for the organization’s performance and any other misfortunes in the team. Several individuals who played the leadership of the Essendon team had been fired within a span of a few years, thus demonstrating the perilous nature of the position. An effective leader in any sport organization should have the capability to choose, preserve, and advance the best team members; a characteristic which lacked amongst the leaders of the Essendon football team. The administrator has distinct roles from that of the coach. The act of managing team individuals is a hard task and calls for considerate indebtedness and multi-dimensional tasks. From a traditional perspective, a coach was known to be involved in various roles such as planning, coordination, and integrating programs of a team preparation (Bucic, Robinson and Ramburuth, 2010, p. 229). On the other hand, a modern coach ought to understand the significance of his role from an occupational or financial viewpoint. In the modern times, there are numerous theories that distinguish the role of a manager and a leader, but the task of a football leader is comprised of both roles of a manager and a leader. Proper management is an implication of good leadership. Hence, appointing the right leaders would have been vital in the prevention of the downfall of the Essendon football club. Moreover, the individuals who are entrusted for selection of team coach and other team administrators ought to seek proper advice so as to make well informed decisions. The individuals who have interest in the leadership roles of the football team ought to be given psychological support so as to reflect on their personal behavior and attributes which will enable them know where to change so as to for higher productivity of the team. This step lacked in the Essendon football team and most of the appointed leaders did not lead to productivity of the team. Additionally, the team would have obtained better results if it did greatly rely on the past traditions of how things ought to be done; there ought to be amalgamation of the past experiences with advanced research knowledge and scientific principles, especially on the issue of use of illegal supplements. There are various leadership styles adopted by various leaders as observed in this case. Leadership styles may be directive, commanding, participative, collaborative or charismatic. Various leaders stick to a particular leadership style but it is recommended that a leaders ought to be flexible so as to meet the specific need of every situation. A psychologist, Carl Jung, identified various major preferences which include sensing, feeling, intuitive, thinking, perceiving, and judging; these preferences greatly influence how individuals approach various roles (Tuuli et al, 2012, p. 150). For instance, charismatic leadership would have played a very significant role in the Essendon team because charismatic leaders have the power to cause great influence to the team members, power acquired by expertise and motivating the team members. The team coach ought to be a charismatic individual who would is vision oriented, talented in inspiration, enthusiastic, and a motivator of the team members. Coaches ought to put extensive efforts in the development of the team members which is vital for the success of the team in general. The continued sacking of the Essendon team coach signifies that the aspects of charisma leadership lacked among the coaches. Communication Communication appears to be a non-existent art at the Essendon football club. For any team to achieve it set goals, good communication is very significant. Good communication skills in sports are one of the major aspects which contribute to the success of the team. Communication plays a vital role in problem solving, motivation, persuasion, and information. If a problem arises in the team, it is vital for the administrators to communicate with team members concerning the possible solutions other than just sacking certain officials. The chairman of the Essendon football team sacks the coach twice due to lack of progress without any communication with other administrators and the team members. Personal communication within a sport team allows for the development of ties and apprehension. Direct one-on-one communication is vital in the prevention of misunderstandings amongst the team members and gives proper meaning to various issues at hand. Lack of communication at the team concerning the sacking of the coach left majority of the members disappointed in this act. Misunderstandings would have been avoided if there was proper communication to make the members have a clear understanding of the proceedings. Effective communication involves proper speaking. Communication ought to be a two way thing and coaches ought to teach the team members how to communicate (Crain et al, 2012, p. 12). In many instances, coaches assume that the team members already know how to communicate, which is a wrong assumption. Players ought to be taught not just how to communicate, but also the reasons to communicate. Team members should know that what they have to communicate is very vital to the coach which at times is very significant in identifying areas of weakness for improved results. Coaches may not always agree with what the team players say but they ought to listen keenly. At times, becoming an effective communicator calls for a change of the coaching methodology and personality. Highly structured and inflexible individuals are not effective communicators; hence, coaches ought to assess their personal attributes that require adjustments for effective communication with the team members. For majority of the team members, one-on-one communication with the coach may seem difficult. Coaches ought to create a calm non-intimidating atmosphere for the team member to communicate effectively and let them know that their opinions are highly appreciated. Direct communication would have played a very significant role in the Essendon team because it keeps everybody informed of the current activities and proceedings. It would prevent disadvantageous acts such as gossip which would lead to the downfall of the team. Proper communication enhances the cohesion and the success of the team (Lakkaraju et al, 2011, p. 325). Decision making Decision making refers to the act of making a choice between various courses of action. At times, a decision arrived at may not always be the best in a given situation (Correia et al, 2012, p. 245). Sometimes there are better choices that would have brought better results but were not considered, or proper information was lacking at the time of decision making. Consequently, it is always significant to keep a record of major decisions and the reasons that contributed to the adoption of a certain action and not any other to avoid repletion of similar mistakes in the future. In this case, the chairman of the team ought to have made a record as to why the first team coach was sacked. This way, various considerations would have been made before sacking of the second team coach which would lead to adoption of a better solution to the ‘non-progress’ problem of the team. However, past mistakes may be hard to correct but it will play a very significant role in the future decision making processes. There are various decision making processes a team may adopt. The nature of the decision should influence the method of decision making applied. In case of a major problem in the team, the administration ought to develop a listing of all possible solutions to the problem followed by deciding which parties will participate the decision making process. Enough information ought to be gathered so as to weigh the risks and benefits involved with each solution before making the final decision. The use of illegal supplements was a decision that was poorly arrived at without the consideration of possible consequences. The process of listing possible solutions is best achieved through consultations with other team members and would involve activities such brain storming. However, the Essendon chairman made major decisions without consultations. If the team members were consulted before the sacking of the coach, more effective solutions would have been arrived at other than sacking of the coach which did not proof effective. This stage is very significant for any successful decision making process and is makes the team members feel they are part of the organization through their involvement in decision making processes. In most cases, the people at the bottom have a better understanding of the problems they encounter; therefore. They can play a very significant role in achievement of better solutions to these problems. Sometimes making a major decision requires a certain time scale. Instant decision may be prone to mistakes (Head et al, 2011, p. 1836). It is vital to consider the consequence of making a quick decision and whether spending additional time will enhance the quality of the decision. The decision such as sacking of the coach affects the whole organization as a whole; therefore, the decision making responsibility ought to be shared. It is a show of responsibility to keep a record on how a decision was arrived at to act as a justification for the actions taken in future. If things fail to work put as planned, it is still possible to show that the act was sensible at that instance considering the information present at that time. The Essendon club ought to adopt quality techniques and procedures during major decision making processes and problem solving. Properly prepared decisions are easy to develop and execute and they produce excellent results. Change management There are various rules of change management and change management is only successful when various principles are put into practice. Change management involves proper planning and subtle execution (Golden-Biddle and Team, 2013, p. 36). Most importantly, there ought to be consultations and participation of the team members who are greatly affected by the changes. If change is implemented forcibly on people, major problems may arise. The administration frequently forced change on the team members because majorities were disappointed by the sacking of the coach, and were not consulted concerning their current problems. Change ought to be genuine, attainable, and quantifiable. Administrators ought to begin with personal change before executing change in the whole team. The leader ought to identify what results are required from the change, how to identify whether change has been achieved, who will be affected by the change, and what reactions are expected from the change. Change should not be sold to team members because it is not an effective solution to success. When senior officials sell ideas to the team members, the team members may generally smile and pretend to endorse the idea but in their hearts they do not like the idea due to lack of consultation and involvement. Additionally, the team members may feel as if they are being manipulated and that the change may not benefit them in any way; hence, no need to cooperate and may resist and resist the change. The Essendon officials ought to understand and manage change in such a manner that the team members can put up with. It is significant ensure that people affected by the change approve or understand the necessity for change. The team members should also have an opportunity to decide on how the change will be executed and managed. Quick changes do not give room for efficient consultation and participation which results to complex issues in the team that are not easy to resolve. The team members ought to be timely informed so that they may plan and implement the changes. It alleviates the leader’s burden, distributes the team’s load, and develops a sense of belonging and understanding amongst the affected members. In most cases, it is not the responsibility of the team members to manage change; the responsibility of the team members is to do their best which is dependent on various factors such as motivation and personality. It is the responsibility of the executives to manage change in a manner that the team members can contentedly cope with it (Cruickshank and Collins, 2012, p. 209). The chairperson of the Essendon club ought to understand every aspect from an objective viewpoint and then assist the team members understand motives, aims, and methods of positive response depending on their personal capacities. The chairperson of the club should understand, communicate, and empower, rather than inculcate and enforce which only few people show effective response. When change is carried out effectively, the team members feel involved in the change process and work jointly towards achievement of the common goal. When leaders are planning for change management, it is important to understand that different team members will portray different reactions to change; change is accompanied by some level of loss; the expectations ought to be real; and fears ought to be handled effectively. The executives ought to provide the team members with adequate information, and offer adequate time for the team members to express their choices. A new coach may not carry out activities in a similar manner as the previous coach and change will always be accompanied by various challenges. The executive ought to make meetings with the team members so as to help the members overcome resistance and understand the significance of the new roles and dealings. Conclusion This paper discussed various reflective themes from a case study scenario of an Australian football club, the Essendon. The team has been having poor leadership styles, communication, decision making and change management processes. Due to these reasons, the club has experienced a state of non-progress within the past several years. Leadership has essential impact of the kin of results observed in any organization and achievement of its goals. Good communication skills in sports are one of the major aspects which contribute to the success of the team. Proper decisions are made through consultations and assessment of the possible consequences. Change management plays a significant role in the success of any team. When change is carried out effectively, the team members feel involved in the change process and work jointly towards achievement of the common goal. The Essendon Football Club ought to adopt these values so as to achieve the goals of the club. Bibliography Bucic T, Robinson L and Ramburuth P. (2010). ‘Effects Of Leadership Style On Team Learning.’ Journal Of Workplace Learning, 22(4), pp. 228-248. Correia V, Araújo D, Duarte R, Travassos B, Passos P and Davids K. (2012). ‘Changes In Practice Task Constraints Shape Decision-Making Behaviours Of Team Games Players.’ Journal Of Science And Medicine In Sport, 15(3), pp. 244-249. Crain TC, Obradovich ML, Pirtle JD and Schebesch SW. (2012). U.S. Patent No. 8,126,960. P. 1 Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Cruickshank A and Collins D. (2012). ‘Change Management: The Case Of The Elite Sport Performance Team.’ Journal of Change Management, 12(2), pp. 209-229. Golden-Biddle K and Team LY. (2013). ‘How to Change an Organization Without Blowing It Up.’ MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, 54(2), pp. 35-41. Head S J, Bogers AJ, Serruys PW, Takkenberg JJ and Kappetein A P. (2011). ‘A Crucial Factor In Shared Decision Making: The Team Approach.’ The Lancet, 377(9780), p. 1836. Ishikawa J. (2012). ‘Transformational leadership and gatekeeping leadership: The roles of norm for maintaining consensus and shared leadership in team performance.’ Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 29(2), pp. 265-283. Lakkaraju K, Stevens-Adams S, Abbott R G and Forsythe C. (2011). ‘Communications-based automated assessment of team cognitive performance.’ In Foundations of Augmented Cognition. Directing the Future of Adaptive Systems, p. 325-334. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Seeger MW, Sellnow TL and Ulmer RR. (2012). ‘6 Communication, Organization, and Crisis.’ Communication yearbook 21, p. 231. Tuuli MM, Rowlinson S, Fellows R and Liu AM. (2012). ‘Empowering The Project Team: Impact Of Leadership Style And Team Context.’ Team Performance Management, 18(3/4), pp. 149-175. Read More

Hence, appointing the right leaders would have been vital in the prevention of the downfall of the Essendon football club. Moreover, the individuals who are entrusted for selection of team coach and other team administrators ought to seek proper advice so as to make well informed decisions. The individuals who have interest in the leadership roles of the football team ought to be given psychological support so as to reflect on their personal behavior and attributes which will enable them know where to change so as to for higher productivity of the team.

This step lacked in the Essendon football team and most of the appointed leaders did not lead to productivity of the team. Additionally, the team would have obtained better results if it did greatly rely on the past traditions of how things ought to be done; there ought to be amalgamation of the past experiences with advanced research knowledge and scientific principles, especially on the issue of use of illegal supplements. There are various leadership styles adopted by various leaders as observed in this case.

Leadership styles may be directive, commanding, participative, collaborative or charismatic. Various leaders stick to a particular leadership style but it is recommended that a leaders ought to be flexible so as to meet the specific need of every situation. A psychologist, Carl Jung, identified various major preferences which include sensing, feeling, intuitive, thinking, perceiving, and judging; these preferences greatly influence how individuals approach various roles (Tuuli et al, 2012, p. 150). For instance, charismatic leadership would have played a very significant role in the Essendon team because charismatic leaders have the power to cause great influence to the team members, power acquired by expertise and motivating the team members.

The team coach ought to be a charismatic individual who would is vision oriented, talented in inspiration, enthusiastic, and a motivator of the team members. Coaches ought to put extensive efforts in the development of the team members which is vital for the success of the team in general. The continued sacking of the Essendon team coach signifies that the aspects of charisma leadership lacked among the coaches. Communication Communication appears to be a non-existent art at the Essendon football club.

For any team to achieve it set goals, good communication is very significant. Good communication skills in sports are one of the major aspects which contribute to the success of the team. Communication plays a vital role in problem solving, motivation, persuasion, and information. If a problem arises in the team, it is vital for the administrators to communicate with team members concerning the possible solutions other than just sacking certain officials. The chairman of the Essendon football team sacks the coach twice due to lack of progress without any communication with other administrators and the team members.

Personal communication within a sport team allows for the development of ties and apprehension. Direct one-on-one communication is vital in the prevention of misunderstandings amongst the team members and gives proper meaning to various issues at hand. Lack of communication at the team concerning the sacking of the coach left majority of the members disappointed in this act. Misunderstandings would have been avoided if there was proper communication to make the members have a clear understanding of the proceedings.

Effective communication involves proper speaking. Communication ought to be a two way thing and coaches ought to teach the team members how to communicate (Crain et al, 2012, p. 12). In many instances, coaches assume that the team members already know how to communicate, which is a wrong assumption. Players ought to be taught not just how to communicate, but also the reasons to communicate. Team members should know that what they have to communicate is very vital to the coach which at times is very significant in identifying areas of weakness for improved results.

Read More