TY - JOUR

T1 - Valued Insight or Act of Insubordination? How Context Shapes Coaches’ Perceptions of Challenge-oriented Followership

AU - Gottlieb, Marcus

AU - Eys, Mark

AU - Hardy, James

AU - Benson, Alex J.

N1 - This research was completed with the support of a North American Society for the Psychology of Sport & Physical Activity graduate student research grant.

PY - 2021/12/1

Y1 - 2021/12/1

N2 - Effective leadership is a collaborative effort, requiring a degree of complementarity in how people enact roles of leadership and followership. Using a novel online vignette methodology, we experimentally tested how three contextual factors influenced coaches’ responses to challenge-oriented acts of followership as well as investigated two potential mechanisms. Coaches (N = 232) watched videos of an athlete provided unsolicited challenge-oriented feedback to a coach. Videos varied by the (a) athlete’s status, (b) presence of third-party observers, and (c) stage of the decision-making process. Following the video, we assessed coaches’ evaluations of the athlete. Challenge-oriented followership was perceived more favorably when enacted by an athlete in one-on-one (versus in a group) and before a decision has been reached (versus after a decision is reached). Coaches may appreciate proactivity from athletes in positions of followership, but challenge-oriented followership behaviors enacted at the wrong time and place can elicit negative reactions.

AB - Effective leadership is a collaborative effort, requiring a degree of complementarity in how people enact roles of leadership and followership. Using a novel online vignette methodology, we experimentally tested how three contextual factors influenced coaches’ responses to challenge-oriented acts of followership as well as investigated two potential mechanisms. Coaches (N = 232) watched videos of an athlete provided unsolicited challenge-oriented feedback to a coach. Videos varied by the (a) athlete’s status, (b) presence of third-party observers, and (c) stage of the decision-making process. Following the video, we assessed coaches’ evaluations of the athlete. Challenge-oriented followership was perceived more favorably when enacted by an athlete in one-on-one (versus in a group) and before a decision has been reached (versus after a decision is reached). Coaches may appreciate proactivity from athletes in positions of followership, but challenge-oriented followership behaviors enacted at the wrong time and place can elicit negative reactions.

KW - follower

KW - leader

KW - leadership

KW - proactive

KW - role perceptions

U2 - 10.1123/jsep.2021-0122

DO - 10.1123/jsep.2021-0122

M3 - Article

VL - 43

SP - 488

EP - 496

JO - Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology

JF - Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology

SN - 0895-2779

IS - 6

ER -