Women as Leaders of Organising Running Events Teams

Abstract

Abstract Running is one of the most popular methods of spending time in active form in the world. The vast majority of managers who organise runs are former or actual runners. It is interesting to note that more men are leaders of teams which organise running events, while women as leaders are very rare. The main purpose of the research was to find the influence of sex of leader on the style of leadership, decision process and atmosphere in team. The author of this article conducted quality research using individual deep interview method. Data were collected from 23 individual deep interviews with managers of big running events organised in Poland, and 14 with the members of their teams. Currently, effective leaders should have competences different than what were prevalent 20–30 years ago. More important is, for example, emotional intelligence, empathy and interpersonal skills. Organisations operating in the amateur sport market have to build networking with many partners from the public and business sector, so leaders should concentrate on cooperating with stakeholders representing different expectations. Competences that women possess over men are required. Unlike other industries, in the running market there are very few women as leaders. Several reasons abound for this, some of which include economic and sociological grounds.