Understanding Servant Leadership as a Model for High School Sport Coaching

From its conception in 1977, servant leadership has been demonstrated to be an effective model for organizing and uniting people behind team-oriented tasks. The servant leadership model differs from more traditional, top-down models in that, while top-down leadership emphasizes strict obedience and autocratic control of subjects, servant leadership emphasizes group involvement and ethical inclusion to develop trust and create a satisfying experience for workers. Originally designed for corporate use, researchers began investigating its merit in sports in 2008. Significant studies investigated the model’s effect on athlete satisfaction, coaching efficacy, and performance. The purpose of this review of literature was to examine servant leadership as a practical and effective leadership model for high school sport. This involved investigating the data that have been compiled regarding high schoolers’ leadership preferences, as well as how those preferences apply to servant leadership ideals. Articles were individually selected and summarized according to relevance to servant leadership and support for the topic of leadership in high school sport. After review, the results from the selected articles demonstrated that the behaviors and dynamics displayed in many of these studies were congruent with the current servant leadership model. Future research could test the congruency of related models with servant leadership, as well as the validity and success of implementation methods when utilized by more traditional coaches