Leadership and strategic management in sports: Comparing different leadership approaches and their impact on sports management outcomes

Abstract

The research was aimed at studying the relationship between management approaches and the efficiency of sports organizations. To achieve this goal, a theoretical analysis of leadership styles and aspects of strategic management was conducted, as well as a survey of sports managers. The study of various leadership models, including transformational, situational, servant leadership, democratic and authoritarian, showed that transformational and situational leadership are the best approaches to improving team performance and motivating participants. The study of strategic management has confirmed its significance as an important multicomponent tool for ensuring stability and achieving long-term goals, especially when integrated with appropriate leadership approaches. According to the survey of sports managers, transformational leadership received the highest scores in combination with strategy implementation and risk management, while the authoritarian style received the lowest scores in combination with environmental analysis, adaptive planning, human resource management, and others. The findings indicate that leadership styles that promote flexibility, creativity and effective communication create favourable conditions for the sustainable development of teams, support their adaptability and increase the level of involvement of participants, which ultimately has a positive impact on the overall management efficiency of sports organizations.