THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP IN SPORTS

Coaches as the most important success factors utilize different leadership styles in orienting sport teams. If we consider sport teams as an organization and its members as the staff of an organization, in that case, the coaches play the role of managers and orient a team. Furthermore, one of their duties besides planning is to deploy players and control their performance and perform leadership. Confirming this ideal, Chelladurai (2001) and Kolaric, (2005) believe that coaches play the role of managers and they are supposed to do similar duties as managers do. The style which is displayed by coaches in leadership; according to most of researchers performed on effective coaches indicate the rate of their influence on performance, behaviour and ideal psychological performance (such as motivation, satisfaction and commitment) of sportsmen on one side and team integration on the other.

Being an athlete most of my life I have been exposed to many transactional leaders in the form of coaches. The best example would be my current cricket coach because he relies on small goals to achieve a larger goal, top the national south championship. As the coach his role as a leader was to push us to our limits and slightly beyond, and he achieved this phenomenon by forcing us to set short and long term goals individually as well as for the team. By having individuals write down our personal goals my coach could hold us accountable for our actions and used our goals to monitor progress as well as push us to never settle with mediocrity. During my time at the Yorkshire cricket club the coach/owner provided many incentives for the A and B sides. For the A side, winning our respective leagues and limited overs competition our incentive this season is great, winning the league the members of the A side will be given $30000tt