Leadership in Sports: Fostering Creativity and Teaching Accountability

Sports are a blend of creative artistry, fierce competition, and life lessons. At the elite level, there is significant pressure to expeditiously produce winning outcomes. In order to meet these expectations, industry leaders must be able to identify, acquire, develop, and retain talent. There is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach to effective leadership. An important characteristic of leader effectiveness is the ability to understand people and the conditions in which they thrive. Another consideration, perhaps of greater significance, is the positive impact leaders have on the character development of their followers.

Effective leadership in any team-oriented endeavor involves guiding individuals toward a common goal. Creating a vision, formulating a plan, and gaining buy-in are all essential elements to building a strong leadership foundation. However, the leader’s ability to identify and develop talent will directly impact results. Although the stakes are higher in elite sports, industry leaders must recognize the strengths of their personnel and put individuals in positions where they can be most valuable within the framework of the team. The reality is people are motivated differently and appropriate leader behaviors or actions may depend on the context, situation, and/or personalities involved.

Greatness is Self-Determined

By nature, individuals committed to excellence in any domain prefer to be challenged. As previously indicated, favorable results are often predicated on the leader’s ability to motivate. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) suggests individuals are motivated by three psychological needs that are necessary for growth, development, and well-being. These three essential needs are: (1) autonomy, (2) competence, and (3) relatedness. Individuals who achieve excellence in any profession have a degree of intrinsic motivation that drives them to become task-oriented and engage in the process, rather than focus solely on the outcome. Scholars with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology contend that intrinsically motivated athletes, for example, often concentrate on skill improvement and their individual growth as athletes. Whether on the athletic field or in the corporate boardroom, leaders must be concerned with developing meaningful relationships with their employees and providing opportunities that may help facilitate intrinsic motivation.

Creativity vs Accountability

Creativity and imagination are building blocks for intrinsic motivation and innovation. Some consider the amazing feats of a sport performance as Life Imitating Art. Athletes constantly explore the limits of their creativity. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s famous skyhook shot or Diego Maradona’s extraordinary dribbling skills were symbolic of their intuitive and inventive nature. Elite competitive sports leagues or Olympic groups host events that display the skillsets of the top athletic performers in the world. Of course, these elite athletes did not develop overnight. One issue today with youth sports today is they tend to be very structured. A recent study published in 2023 from Canada identified four important indicators for quality sport experience in youth athletes. Participants in the study were young athletes aged 10 to 18 along with parents, coaches, and sport administrators. The indicators expressed were: (1) fun and enjoyment, (2) opportunity for sport skill development and progress, (3) social connections, and (4) open and effective communication.

Creating such conditions helps allow talented athletes to be themselves and strive towards optimal levels of performance. Sport leaders must try to foster an environment of creativity at all levels of development. This should be deliberate and requires intentional prioritizing and planning.

The following are best practices in which sport leaders can foster an environment of creativity with their teams.

1. Developing a culture that values creativity
2. Identifying each individual’s potential
3. Building strong relationships with team members
4. Creating a harmonious atmosphere for team members to thrive
5. Implementing free play or unstructured events
6. Trying unconventional methods of instruction
7. Accommodating various learning styles
8. Placing team members in positions where they are best suited
9. Engaging team members to assume leadership roles
10. Accepting differences and encouraging diverse thought

Although creativity should be encouraged and facilitated, there is a delicate balance between being flexible and holding others accountable. As author Bob Proctor pointed out, “Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to results.” The holistic development of an individual includes hard life lessons and acceptance of responsibility. Leaders cannot afford to design a completely unstructured environment that dismisses rules and enables excuse-making.

Doc Rivers, current head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, once stated:

“Average players want to be left alone.

Good players want to be coached.

Great players want to be told the truth”

Effective leaders need to advocate and empower, but they also must critique and inform. Accountability training should start at the youth level. Bo Hansen, author of Athlete Tough: Proven Strategies for Staying in the Game, suggests that leaders need to be able to have accountability conversations with team members if they intend on reaching the highest level of performance. The quality of accountability encompasses taking ownership of mistakes, being open to change, and changing behaviors so that the same situation does not keep occurring.

The following are strategies in which sport leaders can hold athletes and staff members accountable.

1. Accepting blame and assuming responsibility starts at the top
2. Setting clear standards and expectations for the group
3. Creating specific goals that can be measured
4. Establishing non-negotiable rules and consequences
5. Determining the cause of an issue
6. Providing timely feedback and instruction
7. Empowering or appointing team leaders to help enforce expected behaviors
8. Clarifying unacceptable behavior
9. Explaining how a lack of accountability impacts fellow team members
10. Having objective conversations with personnel when needed

Although this article mainly focuses on sports, leadership approaches and talent development apply across all domains. Sport coaches, midlevel managers, and corporate executives are constantly attempting to find ways to motivate stakeholders and create environments conducive for success. The balancing act between fostering creativity and holding people accountable is an integral leadership consideration in the pursuit of excellence.