Scheduled for Research Consortium Sport Management, Recreation and Leisure Poster Session, Friday, April 28, 2006, 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Area I


Leadership Wisdom Scale for Sport Management Decisions

Lisa Mae Miller, Ashland University, Columbus, OH

The primary purpose of this study was the development of a scale to measure leadership wisdom in sport management decisions, with the intended purpose of quantifying the multiple dimensions of leadership wisdom. Additional research questions posed included a) Is there interaction between intercollegiate athletic directors' and coaches' perceptions of leadership wisdom?; and b) Is there a significant connection between measured demographic variables measured and leadership wisdom? The need for the study is supported by the scarcity of previous work on sport leadership wisdom and its potential positive impact in sport organizations. Wisdom has been defined as the power to judge rightly, follow the right judgment, and base this judgment on knowledge, experience, and morals (Sternberg, 2001). Leadership wisdom is the ability of leaders to guide followers with right judgement based on combining altruism, self-concern, and morality. Many benefits of wise decision-making have been identified. These benefits include improved performance and improved quality of life (Kekes, 1995). Thus, leadership wisdom affords sport organizations and their stakeholders an array of potential benefits. Given the benefits identified, examination of leadership wisdom is warranted in the sport environment. For this study, the Leadership Wisdom Scale for Sport (LWSS) was created. After a content validity analysis by experts, eighteen items were retained on the LWSS. The population of sport leaders in this study included athletic directors and coaches of men's and women's team and individual sports. A content validity panel, consisting of two leadership experts, two scale experts, two intercollegiate sport coaches, and two intercollegiate athletic directors, was also included in this study and encouraged to provide feedback on the suitability and clarity of items on the LWSS. The questionnaires were administered through an online survey. Demographic information was also obtained in combination with the LWSS. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (Muijs, 2004) was utilized for analyzing the results. The experts' frequency of agreement was analyzed for content validity to determine the construct of leadership wisdom. Statistical analysis was also conducted on the relationship between athletic directors' and coaches' perceptions of leadership wisdom. Moreover, the results indicated the level of relationship between leadership wisdom and demographic variables such as gender, sport types, and experience. Lastly, the leaders' level of wisdom was analyzed with both the level of satisfaction and level of performance excellence. In conclusion, several possible applications of this and future studies involving the Leadership Wisdom Scale for Sport were suggested.


Keyword(s): coaching, leadership development, sport management

Back to the 2006 AAHPERD National Convention and Exposition