The impact of coaches’ ethical leadership behaviour on athletes’ voice and performance

Abstract

PurposeEthics and leadership are ongoing topics in high performance sports. The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into the relationship between coaches’ ethical leadership behaviour, as perceived by athletes, and its impact on student-athlete accountability, voice and performance.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines the constructs of coaches’ ethical leadership behaviour, felt accountability and voice behaviour. The authors surveyed student-athletes from a variety of sports who compete in the Ontario University Athletics Regional Association. A total of 303 respondents (n=303) completed the survey. Partial least squares path modelling algorithm was utilised for testing hypotheses.FindingsThe results of the study indicate a significant relationship between a coach exhibiting ethical leadership behaviour and student-athlete voice behaviour and performance. Felt accountability mediates the effect of ethical leadership on voice and performance.Practical implicationsThis study provides support for the hypothesis that coaches who behave ethically and whose actions represent their words create an environment where a student-athlete feels accountable. This is a powerful concept as it can positively impact individual and team success. The findings suggest that one of the ways that coaches can impact athletes’ performance is to demonstrate and model ethical conduct, and reward ethical acts.Originality/valueThe paper examines how coaches’ ethical behaviour might impact individual processes of accountability, voice and performance. Second, the paper uses the construct of accountability to explain how coaches’ ethical leadership impacts student-athlete behaviour. The accountability literature indicates that followers’ behaviours can be understood as the consequences of his/her perceived accountability towards the leader.