The lead article in this volume highlights several critical aspects of effective leadership in modern times. First, the importance of leadership as an interpersonal, relationship-building endeavor cannot be overstated. Second, the exemplary leader is a caring individual who demonstrates understanding and empathy toward others. For our commentary, we draw upon a well-developed stream of literature germane to these two core issues presented in the article. We compare and contrast the feminine and masculine aspects of leadership. In particular, we discuss the contemporary feminization of leadership and describe several integral attributes of feminine leadership – a communal orientation, transformational behaviors, emotional intelligence, and empathy – each of which relate to the facets of sports coaching and leadership presented in the lead article

Billimoria, Diana

Hopkins, Margaret M.

O\u27Neil,, Deborah A.

English

Bowling Green State University: ScholarWorks@BGSU

Bowling Green State University ScholarWorks@BGSU Management Faculty Publications Management 2010 What could an Executive Coach do for an Association Football Manager? A Commentary Margaret M. Hopkins Deborah A. O'Neil, Bowling Green State University, oneild@bgsu.edu Diana Billimoria Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/management_pub  Part of the Training and Development Commons Repository Citation Hopkins, Margaret M.; O'Neil,, Deborah A.; and Billimoria, Diana, "What could an Executive Coach do for an Association Football Manager? A Commentary" (2010). Management Faculty Publications. 1. https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/management_pub/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Management at ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Management Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@BGSU. What could an Executive Coach do foran Association Football Manager?A CommentaryMargaret M. Hopkins1, Deborah A. O’Neil2, and Diana Bilimoria31College of Business Administration, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USAE-mail: margaret.hopkins@utoledo.edu2College of Business Administration, Bowling Green StateUniversity, Bowling Green, OH 43403-0001, USAE-mail: oneild@bgsu.edu3Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USAE-mail: diana.bilimoria@case.eduINTRODUCTIONThe lead article in this volume highlights several critical aspects of effectiveleadership in modern times.  First, the importance of leadership as an interpersonal,relationship-building endeavor cannot be overstated.  Second, the exemplary leaderis a caring individual who demonstrates understanding and empathy toward others.For our commentary, we draw upon a well-developed stream of literature germane tothese two core issues presented in the article.  We compare and contrast the feminineand masculine aspects of leadership.  In particular, we discuss the contemporaryfeminization of leadership and describe several integral attributes of feminineleadership – a communal orientation, transformational behaviors, emotionalintelligence, and empathy – each of which relate to the facets of sports coaching andleadership presented in the lead article.  THE FEMININE QUALITIES OF LEADERSHIPFrom the traditional viewpoint, an effective leader was thought to be rational, task-oriented, directive, authoritative, competitive and competent.  Individual achievementswere accepted as indicators of effective leadership.  However, the Great Man theory ofleadership and similar individualistic perspectives have diminished over time.Central characteristics of contemporary models of leadership include developingrelationships, demonstrating coaching behaviors, communicating effectively, andbuilding teams.  The movement is more and more toward leading in a relational andcollaborative way.  Relational leadership refers to a process of working with and49through people. The leader is at the center of a network, connected to others througha web of relationships [1].  The relational connection supports, develops andstrengthens others, builds interpersonal trust, nurtures voice and inclusion, andfacilitates the accomplishment of the shared vision. Current views of effectiveleadership acknowledge that a blend of relational skills and task mastery is essential.  These contemporary descriptions of leadership incorporate stereotypicallyfeminine qualities such as relationship-building and cooperation. This feminization ofleadership has gained momentum in recent times, even in men’s sports coaching, somuch so that the New York Times reported that the secret to Duke Universitybasketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s success is that he coaches the way a womanwould [2].  “Mike Krzyzewski…has some things to tell you about leadership.  Forstarters, release your inner woman” [2].  Research on gender has identified two distinct orientations toward leadership,variously labeled as agentic or communal, instrumental or expressive, and masculineor feminine.  Generally, women are thought to be communal and expressive whilemen are viewed as instrumental and agentic.  Along these lines, women are seen ashelpful, cooperative and caring, with a need for affiliation.  On the other hand, menare believed to be independent, competitive, ambitious, and achievement-oriented[3].  Women tend toward a democratic, collaborative style of leading more than anautocratic, directive style [4].  In the past few decades, investigations into styles of leading have underscored thateffective leaders inspire their followers and nurture their ability to be contributors.This leadership style was labeled transformational [5, 6] and contrasted withtransactional leadership.  Transformational leaders establish themselves as rolemodels, and define future goals and plans to achieve them.  These leaders mentor andempower their employees to develop their full potential.  Perhaps most importantly,transformational leaders gain the trust and confidence of their employees thusbuilding a long-term foundation for a strong relationship.  Transactional leaders, onthe other hand, lead in a more conventional manner.  They appeal to the self interestsof others and establish relationships based on exchange.  Transformational leadership behaviors are more communal and distinctivelyfeminine.  Women are inclined to adopt a transformational style of leadership morethan men, especially attending to mentoring others and empowering them asindividuals.  Male leaders on the other hand score higher on most of the indicators oftransactional leadership [7].      Almost everything in contemporary accounts of effective leadership comes back torelationships. The new viewpoint on leadership uses descriptors such as relational,caring, inclusive, and open.  These relational and interactive aspects of leadership arestereotypically feminine while the command and control style is stereotypicallymasculine.  Although the modern perspective on effective leadership in the literaturecenters on feminine qualities and behaviors, masculine models and standards prevail inpractice [8].  For example, success is measured by individual performance and winningas opposed to incorporating a person’s contributions to the team and assessing theirinterpersonal team-building capabilities.  It is important that individuals feel alignedwith the overall goals of the team and see themselves as integral team members.  Thisin turn results in greater commitment to the team and better overall performance [9].  50 Annual Review of High Performance Coaching & Consulting 2010Relationships are arenas of growth and learning [10].  Relationship-buildingcapabilities are associated with the emergence and the effectiveness of leaders [3],and successful coaching behaviors in leadership depend on effective interpersonalrelationships [11].  Leaders in all arenas, including sports, must model and cultivatethese relational aspects of leadership.           EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, EMPATHY, ANDLEADERSHIP  Leaders who are successful in developing effective relationships are attuned to theirown emotions and the emotions of others.  This is the essence of emotionalintelligence, the ability to perceive and understand emotions in self and others, and tomanage those emotions appropriately [12].  Self-awareness is the foundation ofemotional intelligence.  Self-aware leaders recognize their own feelings and howthose feelings affect them and their performance.  Relationship authenticity is the feeling of being in emotional connection withothers [13].  The leader acts as the group’s “emotional guide” [12] and needs to beable to perceive the emotional climate of the organization at both the individual andthe collective levels.  Through a finely-tuned awareness of others’ emotions andneeds, an emotionally intelligent leader can generate enthusiasm, establishcooperation and trust among team members, and engender collective accomplishmentof team goals [14].   The ability to demonstrate the emotional intelligence competency of empathy, inparticular, is critical for leadership and coaching in business and in sports [11]. Insports, emotions play a central role.  A coach who is self aware and effectivelymanages his or her own emotions will more likely be able to read and manage theemotions of the team more effectively, thus creating optimal developmentalconditions for the team [11].      Empathy is associated more with women than with men [15]. As an integralcomponent of communal and transformational styles of leadership, empathy is acaring, trust building, two-way interactional process [16].  It is the interplay betweenpeople that is important; mutual empathy requires moving toward a shared sense ofenhanced meaning, clarity, and enrichment.  Mutual empathy fosters growth anddevelopment in all parties to the relationship.  A lack of caring and empathy resultsin misunderstanding and misdirection on any team.              There is a competition for talent, and leaders must keep their team membersengaged and challenged.  The development of talent is one of the most importantresponsibilities of individuals in leadership roles.  Leaders need empathy to developand retain key people in their organizations.  In order for a sports coach to be facilein two of the three standards for athletic coaches defined by the National Associationfor Sports and Physical Education, i.e., to recognize the psychological aspects ofcoaching and to develop the athletes [17], the coach needs to demonstrate empathyand understand the needs and motivational drives of individual athletes.   CONCLUSIONThe assessment of Coach Keane’s coaching in Simon Jenkins’ article presents thepicture of an individual focused exclusively on performance, to the detriment ofWhat could an Executive Coach do for an Association Football Manager?: A Commentary 51emphasizing the more feminine qualities of leadership embedded in relational,communal, and transformational leadership behaviors.  Demonstrating emotionalintelligence and empathy allows for the creation of authentic, trust-based, andenduring relationships with the team.  Leadership coaching behaviors that rely onthese foundational competencies result in enhanced self awareness, learning,development, leadership and productivity at the individual and team performancelevels [11].  While having a drive to win is crucial, exemplary leaders can achievestandout performance in their teams when they combine that drive with the authenticexpression of the communal, relational, and transformational - the feminine -qualities of leadership.        REFERENCES1. Helgesen, S., The Web of Inclusion: Architecture for Building Great Organizations, Doubleday,New York, 1995.2. Sokolove, M., Follow Me, The New York Times, February 5, 2006, 96-117.  3. Eagly, A.H. and Carli, L.L., Through the Labyrinth:  The Truth about How Women Become Leaders,Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 2007.4. Eagly, A.H. and Johnson, B.T., Gender and Leadership Style: A Meta-Analysis, PsychologicalBulletin, 1990, 108, 2, 233-256.5. Bass, B.M., Leadership and Performance beyond Expectations, Free Press, New York, 1985. 6. Burns, J.M., Leadership, Harper & Row, New York, 1978.7. Eagly, A.H, Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C. and van Engen, M.L., Transformational, Transactional, andLaissez-Faire Leadership Styles: A Meta-Analysis Comparing Women and Men, PsychologicalBulletin, 2003, 129, 4, 569-591. 8. O’Neil, D.A., Hopkins, M.M. and Bilimoria, D., Women’s Careers at the Start of the 21st Century:Patterns and Paradoxes, Journal of Business Ethics, 2008, 80, 727-743.9. Hopkins, M.M., O’Neil, D.A., Passarelli, A. and Bilimoria, D., Women’s Leadership Development:Strategic Practices for Women and Organizations, Consulting Psychology Journal, 2008, 60, 4, 348-365.  10. Surrey, J.L., Empathy:  Evolving Theoretical Perspectives, Work in Progress:  Empathy Revisited,The Stone Center, 1990, 40, 1-5.11. O’Neil, D.A., Hopkins, M.M. and Bilimoria, D., Developing Women Athletes:  Insights fromBusiness and Management, Annual Review of High Performance Coaching and Consulting, 2009,73-96. 12. Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. and McKee, A., Primal Leadership:  Realizing the Power of EmotionalIntelligence, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 2002.13. Miller, J.B., What Do We Mean by Relationships?, Work in Progress, The Stone Center, 1986, 22,1-13.14. George, J.M., Emotions and Leadership:  The Role of Emotional Intelligence, Human Relations,2000, 53, 8, 1027-1055.  15. Goleman, D., Working with Emotional Intelligence, Bantam Books, New York, 1998.16. Surrey, J.L., The Relational Self in Women:  Clinical Implications, Work in Progress:  Women andEmpathy, The Stone Center, 1983, 2, 6-11.17. National Association for Sport and Physical Education, Quality Coaches, Quality Sports: NationalStandards for Athletic Coaches, Kendall/Hunt, Dubuque, 1995.52 Annual Review of High Performance Coaching & Consulting 2010Copyright of International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching is the property of Multi-Science PublishingCo Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without thecopyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles forindividual use.

What could an Executive Coach do for an Association Football Manager? A Commentary

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