This paper examines core leadership principles as they apply to the sporting world, drawing parallels between corporate, community, and athletic environments. It explores Albert Mehrabian's concept of psychological disturbance in communication, showing how inconsistent verbal and nonverbal signals can undermine a coach-player relationship. The paper then introduces Robert Greenleaf's servant-leadership model — emphasizing service before authority — and argues for its relevance in replacing autocratic coaching styles. Finally, it applies Dennis Kinlaw's total quality management framework, outlining five strategies for continuous improvement that translate directly to team development and athletic performance.
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What are the important concepts of communication that best support the values of leadership needed in today's sporting world? Since sports is really just a mirror of society, research into various kinds of leadership in the corporate world and the community fits well into the sporting genre as well.
In Albert Mehrabian's book Silent Messages (Mehrabian 53), the author alludes to a confusing kind of communication called "psychological disturbance." Loaded with damaging inconsistency, it amounts to nice words being spoken while body language elicits negativity. This kind of communication causes a "psychological disturbance," the author advises. An example is a mother saying in a lilting voice, "Come and give your mommy a kiss," but when the child arrives, she turns away because his hands are dirty. "[The child] does not know what to do. He loses either way." If he shrinks back and rejects his mother, she will be upset; but he does not want to risk coming closer and being rejected.
This scenario could play out in a coaching environment as well. The coach praises the player with familiar words of enthusiasm, but his body language tells the player he is disappointed and plans to start another player in the next game. The mixed message leaves the athlete in the same impossible position as Mehrabian's child — unable to know how to respond or where he stands.
Authors Lawrence J. Lad and David Luechauer quote Juana Bordas as saying that servant-leadership has "very old roots in many of the indigenous cultures." Servant-leadership founder Robert Greenleaf writes (Spears 1) that the servant-leader is a servant first. He or she must have the natural feeling of wanting to be of service — not to lead, not to follow, but to serve first. Then, "conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead," Greenleaf writes. "The best test is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?"
What servant-leadership does, in part, is do away with autocratic, hierarchical kinds of leadership and approach leadership from a more ethical point of view — a sharing in the decision-making process so that all are on board when the whistle blows and the game begins. The basic idea works for sports as well as for business. In earlier eras, coaches and managers viewed people as objects, but that view is shifting, in part due to the concepts of servant-leadership.
The central meaning came to Greenleaf after reading Hermann Hesse's short novel Journey to the East. Greenleaf concluded that a great leader first serves others, and "true leadership (Spears 3) emerges from those whose primary motivation is a deep desire to help others." By first serving, then leading, the leader gains a hands-on grasp of what the priorities are. Do those being served — whether baseball players or office staffers — become healthier while being served? Do they grow as persons, become smarter, and become more likely "themselves to become servants?" These are the questions servant-leadership demands that every coach and manager ask.
"Five TQM strategies drive continuous team improvement"
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