Leadership task sheet
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Background knowledge:
• That Fiedler (1967) suggested that there are 2 categories of leadership:
• Task-orientated and Person-orientated
• That there are 3 main types of leadership style: Autocratic, Democratic and
• Laissez-faire.
• That leaders are either Prescribed or Emergent
1) Do you ever feel the need to use leadership in your day to day sporting life?
Think of some good leaders in top class sport and write down what makes
Them good. Does a leader in educational sport differ from a manager at a top
classlevel?
2) Practical task:
Each person in the group should lead (not teach) the group in a chosen
activity (individual, team or racket as directed) adopting the different leadership styles in turn. For each style, think about the main key points before working with your group on how you will demonstrate the styles to the rest of the class. (A good role play would demonstrate the key points, strengths and weaknesses nicely!)
3) Write down the key points of the following 2 categories:
Category - Task-orientated leadership
Category - Person-orientated leadership
4) Highlight some of the strengths and weaknesses of each style:
Style |
Weaknesses |
Strengths |
Autocratic |
||
Laissez faire |
||
Democratic |
5) Now put the styles of leadership into the categories (best fit): Are there any in between styles or mixtures of styles?
Task-orientated |
Person-orientated |
6) Which practical situations would you use these different styles in?
Autocratic:
Leissez-faire:
Democratic:
7) After carrying out the task, evaluate what happened (you could also draw on
your own past experience) by discussing what was effective / less effective and
what problems and potential problems arise from use of the differing styles.
8) What leadership styles do you adopt in your day to day sporting life?