Leadership Lessons from the World of Athletics: Up Close and Personal

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to organize the reflections of my sons on the leadership qualities of their coaches, representing 22 years of teams at the professional, college and high school ranks and eight head coaches. As a professor of public administration who teaches leadership in an MPA program, I was interested in examining how their observations compared and contrasted with prevalent leadership themes in respected books on the topic. My conclusion is that these reflections are worthwhile illustrations of a number of classic leadership theories and practices.