ArticlePloS one2019
How many leaders does it take to lead a sports team? The relationship between the number of leaders and the effectiveness of professional sports teams.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Leadership Experiences Amongst Elite Female Rugby Players: A Different Approach to Team Leadership.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Design and evaluation of leadership development program using co-creation approaches for an athlete leadership group among elite high school rugby teams.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- What affects peer interaction in universities? Examining the effects of paternalistic leadership and peer leadership on peer interaction of teachers.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Effect of coaches' interpersonal style on young athletes' individual resilience and team adherence intention: a season-long investigation.BMC psychology · 2023Article
- An intervention program based on team building during tactical training tasks to improve team functioning.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Emotional Intelligence as a Predictor of Motivation, Anxiety and Leadership in Athletes.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Child participation in collision sports and football: what influences parental decisions?The Physician and sportsmedicine · 2022Article
- Athlete Leadership Development Within Teams: Current Understanding and Future Directions.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Review
- Article
- Collective efficacy in soccer teams: a systematic review.Psicologia, reflexao e critica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS · 2021Review
- Is Perceived Athlete Leadership Quality Related to Inside Sacrifice and Perceived Performance in Team Sports? The Mediating Role of Team Identification.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Does Fair Coach Behavior Predict the Quality of Athlete Leadership Among Belgian Volleyball and Basketball Players: The Vital Role of Team Identification and Task Cohesion.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Benefits of team sport participation versus concerns of chronic traumatic encephalopathy: prioritizing the health of our youth.Concussion (London, England) · 2020Article
- The Power of Empowerment: Predictors and Benefits of Shared Leadership in Organizations.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study aimed to analyze the number of task, social and external athlete leaders within sports teams, and to examine the effectiveness of different leadership structures in male and female teams. The participants were 317 male and 214 female soccer players belonging to 18 teams playing in the third highest male division and to 13 teams playing in the highest female division in Spain, respectively. First, we identified the leadership structure in each team (i.e., having zero, one, two or three leaders); second, we grouped the teams according to these leadership structures; and third, MANOVA was used to compare different leadership groups in terms of their effectiveness. The results demonstrated that: (a) the most common structure within the teams was to have one task leader, one social leader, and two external leaders; (b) shared leadership across and within leadership roles was seen as the most effective leadership structure for male and female teams; and (c) male teams showed more benefits when having more task and external leaders, while female teams experienced more benefits when having more task and social leaders on the team. Based on these findings, coaches can optimize their team's functioning by implementing a structure of shared leadership within their teams, both across and within the different leadership roles.
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