#Stargazing – Transformational Leadership in Netball

A growing body of research exists demonstrating the link between effective leadership, team culture and coach-athlete relationships. Perhaps the most prominent framework in recent years has been Transformational Leadership (TFL) (Bass & Riggio, 2006) which has been associated with a wide range of psychosocial benefits such as group cohesion, task cohesion, athlete satisfaction, performance effort and intrinsic motivation. However, no research to date has examined the development of leadership culture and behaviour across multiple contexts such as the parallel performance and talent development settings that exists within this present study. This Collaborative Action Research (Evans & Light, 2008) investigation applies TFL within the Severn Stars Superleague netball club. This project examines the extent to which the co-founding Director (Dr Navin) can enhance the TFL behaviours evident within the club through collaborative consultation and culture change.
This project features a positively-focused methodological approach founded on Appreciative Inquiry (AI) (Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005). The overarching premise of AI is the focus on the positive and aspirational elements of the environment under investigation.
This ‘Pop-up University’ Discovery session will enhance delegates’ understanding in two key areas through an active involvement in collaboratively creating solutions to challenging scenarios which have been inspired by the data collected within the project. The session will challenge delegates to examine possible solutions for both short term outcomes and longer term gains in this performance sport context.
First, the delegates will explore how to practically apply the principles of TFL across both the performance and talent development domains within the club. Working in small groups, delegates will be set several scenarios and challenged to construct some hypothetical solutions which they will subsequently present to other delegates.
Second, the delegates will explore the application of AI. This Discovery Session falls at the mid-point of investigation and so spans the first two phases of the AI (Discovery and Dream) and the latter two stages (Design and Destiny). Delegates will be introduced to the initial themes drawn from the data analysis of the first two phases of the project and will be tasked with constructing their own ‘Design and Destiny’ phases.