Observing Coaches’ Leadership Behaviours: the Development of the Coach Leadership Assessment System (CLAS)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to develop an observational coding system that examines coaches’ leadership behaviours in sport. Drawing from an integration of the dimensions emphasized within the full-range leadership model, and particularly, transformational leadership (TFL), the Coach Leadership Assessment System (CLAS) was designed to examine coaches’ real-time leadership behaviours. Behavioural categories were developed through an iterative combination of literature review, qualitative interviews, and video observation. The CLAS consists of five higher-order dimensions: transformational, transactional, neutral, laissez-faire, and toxic coaching, which assess coaches’ leadership across 18 distinct behavioural categories. Overall, results provided preliminary support for the reliability and validity of this instrument. The CLAS provides a detailed and contextualized account of coaches’ leadership behaviours in sport and may have important implications for theory development and applied practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Transformational leadership
• systematic observation
• youth sport coaching

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the students, community partners, coaches, and athletes who have made invaluable contributions to this project. Preparation of this manuscript was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) standard research grant (#435-2014-0038) and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) doctoral grant (#767-2011-1912).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [435-2014-0038,767-2011-1912].