Leadership, teams and exchange: you're either in or you're out

The two great sporting conundrums are how some teams interact successfully whilst others struggle and how teams accept the differing notions and styles of leadership both on and off the field. This chapter looks at how leaders and people interact. This is critical, particularly in relation to sports teams and clubs. The chapter provides an overview of theories such as, reinforcement theory, leader-member exchange (LMX) theory and Grint’s wicked problems. The main focus of attention is on differentiation between leadership and management. A significant critique of approaches such as, LMX is the over-emphasis on dyad, numbers and supervisors not leaders. The chapter also explores how effective teams function, the interaction and exchange that occurs among the team members, and finally, the idea of team leadership, using Hill’s Team Leadership Model as a framework. Many sporting teams are now moving towards the concept of a ‘leadership group’ among players. Accordingly, team leadership is a critical concept to explore.