Summary
The career I am interested in that is significant to the sports industry is coaching. Sports coaches train fanatics to familiarize themselves with a game and participate in professional-level matches. The word coaching was first used in connection with a trainer or instructor in the mid-19th century in England after a tutor at Oxford University ‘guided’ a learner through exams (Miller & Gaffney, 2022). Since then, coaching has been used in the sports context to support athletes to succeed in their fields. Job opportunities for coaches are expected to grow by 20% from now to 2030. Over 40,000 job opportunities are expected to emerge every year (Miller & Gaffney, 2022). Coaching opportunities are available at every level and age, including college teams, private clubs, school sports, national leagues, and youth sports.
Management and Leadership: Strategies
A key management strategy of prolific coaches is embracing good talent. Coaches want to harness the best talent to ensure their teams maintain a competitive advantage over their rivals (Miller & Gaffney, 2022). Another management strategy is providing recognition where it is required. Like employees, players work to seek satisfaction and emotional contentment (Valletta, 2019). Good coaches appreciate individualism in employee performance and productivity and offer constructive appreciation and feedback where it is due. Lastly, cultivating self-leadership in players is a crucial management strategy coaches should use. Good coaches ignore mistakes and focus on cultivating accountability and self-leadership in teams so that the underperforming players can get a chance to grow.
The leadership strategies related to coaching include autocratic leadership style, democratic leadership style, and laissez-faire leadership style. Coaches who exercise autocratic leadership make sole decisions without consulting the decisions and views of players (Gomes et al., 2021). Most professional coaches, like Alex Ferguson, have demonstrated the success of this strategy. Coaches that exercise democratic leadership make decisions and seek the players’ opinions before enforcing them (Gomes et al., 2021). Democracy increases motivation among employees as they feel valued. Coaches who use a laissez-faire leadership strategy do not take active leadership approaches (Gomes et al., 2021). The coach can decide what will be done but prefers to get advice from the athletes and give them the autonomy to make the decision.
Management and Leadership: Situation
Pushing experienced players to be the best at the peak of their careers is a situation that requires a leadership strategy over management. Experienced athletes are more concerned with unlocking their full potential. Thus, the strategy is appropriate for the situation as the experienced players want to be leaders in their fields (Gomes et al., 2021). The strategy will ensure that the athletes possess leadership qualities like emotional intelligence, competitiveness, confidence, responsibility, dominance, and resilience compared to other players.
Management and Leadership: Differences
There are several differences between management and leadership in coaching. Leaders in this career are more involved in the sport and motivating (DiGirolamo & Tkash, 2019). Although managers are less involved than leaders, they are more thoughtful about their methods. For example, managers tell the athletes what to do while the leaders encourage them. Another difference is that becoming a leader requires different characteristics and qualities from becoming a manager (DiGirolamo & Tkash, 2019). Leaders must be passionate, emotional, outgoing, and vocal, while managers must be observant of the players’ strengths, weaknesses, and drive to gain success.
Finally, coaching is a promising career in the sports industry as it is projected to proliferate in the coming years. Coaches are responsible for assessing the current skills level of players, their growth potential, and their fit within a team. Coaches are expected to embrace leadership and management qualities to ensure their teams have a competitive advantage over their rivals. Practical management qualities enable the coach to give instructions, while leadership qualities encourage players to follow them.
References
DiGirolamo, J. A., & Tkach, J. T. (2019). An exploration of managers and leaders using coaching skills. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 71(3).
Gomes, A. R., Gonçalves, A., Morais, C., Simães, C., & Resende, R. (2021). Leadership efficacy in youth Football: Athletes’ and coaches’ perspectives. International Sport Coaching Journal, 9(2), 170-178.
Miller, D., & Gaffney, T. (2022). The 5 most promising careers in sports (With tips for success). Web.
Valletta, C. (2019). 3 management techniques used by coaches in sports. Web.