Followership in athletics why follower-centric spaces perform better

Abstract

Purpose “Athlete experience” is a huge focus in modern-day American collegiate athletics, and is beginning to hold as much, if not more, weight than an athlete’s or team’s performance. With new emphasis on athlete well-being, coaches are more motivated to use healthy leader/follower dynamics. This paper aims to examine the follower-centric space of American collegiate athletics to understand how coaches train and develop followership. Design/methodology/approach Contemporary organization psychology and leadership/followership theories are highlighted in partnership with modern collegiate athletic programming. Author experiences after years of athletic participation and consulting are included, as well as illustrative practical applications beyond athletics. Findings Although sports have unique leader/follower dynamics, three common cultures are identifiable: personal development, co-collaboration and cohesion. These cultures define followership development in athletics. Practical implications Understanding how coaches improve “athlete experience,” increase retention and improve team performance through a follower-centric structure sheds new light on the value of followership in athletics and highlights unique systems in place for corporate settings. Social implications Recognizing the value American collegiate athletics place on healthy followership changes the stigma of followership behavior in a perceived hierarchical structure, changes perceptions of how coaches motivate athlete performance and allows recognition that followership development (as opposed to leadership development) empowers teams to succeed long term. Originality/value American collegiate athletics are unknowingly ahead of their time regarding student athlete well-being through followership development. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first to explore how coaches emphasize and develop followership through sport.