Making 'us' better: High-quality athlete leadership relates to health and burnout in professional Australian football teams

How is coaches' social identity leadership related to mental health in elite athletes? The mediating role of satisfaction with performance

It has been found that the way high-performance coaches lead influences both athletes' performance and mental health. However, limited research exists on the Social Identity Approach to leadership in elite sports, despite growing interest in coaching science regarding interpersonal behaviours and leadership. This study investigates the empirical links between coaches' leadership, sport performance and mental health from a social identity approach. One hundred and forty-five elite athletes (Mage = 20.6 years; SD = 4.1; 62% women, 38% men) answered questionnaires measuring coaches' social identity leadership, sport performance satisfaction and mental health. The overall structural equation model (SEM) accounted for 36% and 19% of the variances in athletes' mental health and mental illness dimensions, respectively. There was a positive association between perceived coaches' social identity leadership and sport performance satisfaction, explaining 10% of its variance. Coaches' social identity leadership predicted athletes' mental health but not mental illness. Sport performance satisfaction positively influenced mental health and negatively impacted mental illness. Fostering a sense of "we" and "us" within elite sport training groups is instrumental in promoting sport performance satisfaction and, consequently, enhancing the mental health of athletes. Coaching educational courses may benefit from social identity leadership in interpersonal behaviours.

Leading the way together: a cluster randomised controlled trial of the 5R Shared Leadership Program in older adult walking groups

BACKGROUND

With a rapidly ageing society, healthy ageing has become a key challenge. Engagement in physical activity, and particularly walking, is a key strategy that contributes to healthy ageing amongst older adults. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of a group walking program for older adults that incorporates the 5R Shared Leadership Program (5R^S). By implementing a structure of shared leadership and strengthening peer leaders' identity leadership, 5R^S aims to cultivate a shared social identity amongst participants, which has in other contexts been associated with greater performance and well-being.

METHODS

A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted to test the efficacy of the 5R^S group walking program on group identification, group cohesion, walking activity, and well-being, compared to a regular group walking program for older adults. Nineteen older adult walking groups (i.e., the clusters; N = 503; M_age = 69.23 years, SD = 6.68) all participated in a 12-week structured group walking program. Nine walking groups (n = 304) were randomly assigned to the intervention in which participants received the 5R^S program in addition to regular group walking.

RESULTS

5R^S was successful in strengthening the identity leadership qualities of the appointed peer leaders. Multilevel regressions showed that 5R^S succeeded in increasing group cohesion and walking activity to a greater extent than a regular group walking program, while participants' group identification and well-being increased to a similar extent in both conditions. Furthermore, structural equation modelling revealed that group identification mediated the impact of peer leaders' identity leadership on group cohesion and well-being (but not walking activity).

CONCLUSION

By harnessing the capacity of the group and its peer leaders, the 5R^S program offers a promising intervention to engage older adults in physical activity.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study was retrospectively registered as clinical trial on 9 September 2021 ( NCT05038423 ).

The Role of Athlete Leadership Quality in the Characteristics of Team Resilience in Elite Soccer Teams: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Mediation of Team Identification

We present two studies examining the relationship between athlete leadership quality and team resilience and explored the mediating effect of team identification. In Study 1, 194 soccer players (Mage = 18.50, SD = 4.49) from eight national teams participated. Structural equation modeling showed cross-sectionally that the four types of athlete leadership qualities were positively related to the characteristics of resilience and negatively to vulnerability under pressure. Team identification was shown to be a mediator of these relationships. Study 2, with four different time-points, involved 208 young soccer players (Mage = 16.05, SD = 3.39) from two professional clubs (i.e., La Liga). Cross-lagged panel models revealed that task leadership quality (Times 1–2) was positively related to the characteristics of resilience (Times 3–4) and negatively to vulnerability under pressure (Times 3–4). However, team identification did not mediate these relationships. Therefore, practitioners should consider the perceptions of leader quality to achieve benefits during competition.

Is Perceived Athlete Leadership Quality Related to Inside Sacrifice and Perceived Performance in Team Sports? The Mediating Role of Team Identification

The study aimed to analyze the relationship between athletes' perceptions of athlete leadership quality, team identification, inside sacrifice, and performance. A total of 299 players of collective sports (soccer, beach soccer, basketball, volleyball; M age 19.05, SD = 5.10) participated through a cross-sectional design survey. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results highlight the positive relationships between perceived quality of athlete leaders, inside sacrifice, and perceived performance, and between inside sacrifice and perceived performance. Furthermore, inside sacrifice perceived by the athletes was a positive mediator between perceived athlete leadership quality and perceived performance. Also, team identification was a positive mediator in the association between inside sacrifice and perceived performance. These findings extend knowledge about the athlete leadership quality context. These results can also be useful for further research and implications in team sports' performance, as coaches and sports psychologists would have more information about their teams' perceptions of leadership quality to achieve positive outcomes in players' inside sacrifice and performance. The findings also highlight the importance of developing team identification to improve the relationships between perceived athlete leadership quality, inside sacrifice, and perceived performance.

Why the Chosen Ones May Not Always Be the Best Leaders: Criteria for Captain Selection as Predictors of Leadership Quality and Acceptance

There seems to be some initial evidence that team captains are selected based on non-leadership factors such as team tenure, technical abilities, being the daughter of the club president, or playing position. This is concerning since players expect their ideal team captain to have superior motivational and social skills. Adding to this literature on captain selection, the present study investigates relationships between the reasons for which team captains are selected and their (a) perceived leadership quality; and (b) perceived acceptance. To accomplish this, we recruited 450 coaches and 198 players from Flemish football and volleyball teams. Participants evaluated 41 reasons on the extent to which they played a role in the selection of their team captain. Additionally, participants rated their team captain’s leadership quality and level of acceptance. The results consistently indicated that captains who were selected for having good motivational and social competencies were given higher ratings on perceived leadership quality and acceptance by participants. In conclusion, athletes who are motivated, good at motivating others and have superior social skills tend to be better suited for captaincy than those selected based on non-leadership factors.

The Power of Empowerment: Predictors and Benefits of Shared Leadership in Organizations

Leadership plays an essential part in creating competitive advantage and well-being among employees. One way in which formal leaders can deal with the variety of responsibilities that comes with their role is to share their responsibilities with team members (i.e., shared leadership). Although there is abundant literature on how high-quality peer leadership benefits team effectiveness (TE) and well-being, there is only limited evidence about the underpinning mechanisms of these relationships and how the formal leader can support this process. To address this lacuna, we conducted an online survey study with 146 employees from various organizations. The results suggest that an empowering leadership style of the formal leader is associated with higher perceived peer leadership quality (PLQ) on four different leadership roles (i.e., task, motivational, social, and external leader). In addition, formal leaders who empower their team members are also perceived as better leaders themselves. Moreover, the improved PLQ was in turn positively related to TE and work satisfaction, while being negatively related to burnout. In line with the social identity approach, we found that team identification mediated these relationships. Thus, high-quality peer leaders succeeded in creating a shared sense of “us” in the team, and this team identification in turn generated all the positive outcomes. To conclude, by sharing their lead and empowering the peer leaders in their team, formal leaders are key drivers of the team’s effectiveness, while also enhancing team members’ health and well-being.

The Testing of a Four-Dimensional Model of Athlete Leadership and Its Relation to Leadership Effectiveness

Athlete leadership researchers have typically investigated three dimensions of athlete leadership behaviors, which include the meta-categories of task-, social-, and external-oriented leadership. More recently, motivational leadership was added as a fourth dimension. Researchers in organizational leadership have advanced another dimension, referred to as change-oriented leadership (Yukl, 2012). Therefore, in the present study, we tested a four-dimensional model that includes the dimensions of task-, social-, external-, and change-oriented leadership. Two samples of 161 athletes and 69 coaches rated every player on their team on the four-dimensional model and on perceived athlete leadership effectiveness. A multilevel regression analysis showed that all four dimensions of athlete leadership significantly predicted perceived athlete leadership effectiveness for players and three dimensions (i.e., social-, task-, and change-oriented leadership) for coaches. These results support the importance of change-oriented leadership in relation to athlete leadership.