Being in a position of leadership does not make anyone a leader.
Experience, trial and error, personal growth and development all contribute to
the process of becoming a leader; it just doesn’t happen overnight. There are
countless opportunities in sport for people to use their leadership abilities and skills–
as athletes, spectators, judges and technicians, organizers, health
professionals, educators and coaches.
Effective leaders are those whose
group members feel their needs are getting satisfied and the leaders themselves
feel they are getting their own needs met, i.e. there is an equitable exchange.
In order to do this, leaders need to
develop the skills specific to their particular responsibilities in sport and
to feel comfortable applying those skills in difficult as well as pleasant
situations.
This means that to be effective, a
leader must be “task oriented” or able to get the job done, as well as “process
oriented” or focused on creating healthy interpersonal relationships.