A Tale of Two Coaches
Mohamed Soliman
Grand Canyon University
Leadership Styles and Development
LDR-600
Kimberley Scott
May 29, 2013
A Tale of Two Coaches
The text states, “Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. From this perspective, leadership emergence is the degree to which a person fits with the identity of the group as a whole” A question that comes to my mind is concerned with who shapes and influences the identity of the group? It seems to me to be important in analyzing the case studies. Hiring a new department manager to serve a readymade team is different than hiring a coach to create and develop a winning basketball …show more content…
In the case of Coach Knight, he appears to adhere to a management approach. He feels that being prepared to win is more important than winning. He values order, consistency, and structure. He also exercises control over team members and is quick to take corrective measures if he feels his recommendations are not being followed. Fayol (1916) claimed that the primary functions of management are planning, organizing, staffing and controlling. This definition seems to fit Bob Knight pretty well.
Coach Knight’s power base seems to be primarily legitimate power, a function of position power. As the coach he is the recognized authority. He may also have expert power based on his past performance as a player and coach. He also has coercive power in that he has the capacity to penalize or punish team members and seems to wield that power freely in some situations. Based on the case study, there may be a degree of referent power as part of his power base. There seems to be mixed responses and a good deal of controversy related to his leadership …show more content…
The text describes a leader as one who creates and communicates a vision, builds teams, inspires and energizes and satisfies unmet needs of members of his team. He is not a man driven by rules as demonstrated by his own statement; “Too many rules get in the way of leadership.” He goes on to say, “I don’t want to be a manager... I want to be a leader…” He also demonstrates emotional intelligence when he explains that he is committed to, “spending a large percentage of his time getting inside a player’s head, understanding where the player is coming from and helping him to get where we all need to be as a