Unit 7 Final Assignment Paper and Powerpoint

Trae’Von Clavo

Belhaven University

MSA 670

Dr. Woods

11/7/20

The Value of Advanced Organized Leadership in the Fights against PEDs Usage by Superstar Professional Athletes

In the contemporary era where the usage of performance-enhancement drugs (PEDs) by athletes has broken the ceiling, sports organizations are desperate for measures that can be used to correct the problem, and by extension, preserve the spirit of sports. Advanced leadership is one of the measures.

Typically, most of the doping and PEDs usage cases currently being witnessed are an indirect or direct result of leadership failures. For instance, the Russia doping scandal during the 2014 Sochi Olympics was caused by athletes leaders’ irresoluteness to stand up for the sports values. The government-sponsored doping program significantly altered the past Olympics Games’ results. Thus, sports officials and athletes compromised on their principles to aid the widespread and state-sponsored doping scheme (Mannie, 2018). In 2016, anti-doping authorities drawn from about 20 countries voiced their concern for the deteriorating sports ethics, and called for a change in WADA’s leadership. Following a meeting held in Bonn, Germany, the officials repeated their recommendation that no anti-doping decision-maker should be allowed to hold a policy-making position or role within a sports organization to prevent or minimize the occurrence of cases of conflicts of interest with could arise when ‘‘…officials promote the Olympic brand while pursuing offenses that could tarnish it…’’ as had been witnessed during the Russian doping scandal (Ruiz, 2016). Thus, leaders should play a critical role in restoring the public’s confidence in the worldwide anti-doping system by establishing policies, controls and restraints to reform the currently corrupted system.

Advanced leadership is critical in any area of sports. As a behavioral process, leadership influences both individuals and groups towards the team’s set goal. The leader plays the dual function of ensuring that all the players are satisfied while simultaneously steering the individual and the entire team to a success (Sampla, 2014). Advanced leaders can influence and dissuade professional from using PEDs. Such a leadership is built on a solid foundation comprising of a clear mission and vision for the future, a specific strategy, and culture that is conducive to success (Rihal, 2017).

Specifically, advanced leaders value personal excellence, the proper attitude to realize maximum achievement, character and integrity as their life and leadership’s foundation, patience, effective and consistent communication, and creating the right culture for the team to thrive (Wolf Management Consultants, LLC., nd). Such character traits means that advanced leaders can successfully handle virtually every challenge. According to Ibrahim (2016), ‘‘[l]eadership constantly presents challenges both to the leader's abilities and a person, things and change; change brings challenge, and no matter how good a leader is, can't stop that from happening’’ (p.73). The challenges may come in the form of problems or people that presents obstacles to fulfill their mandate. The author continues to state that ‘‘[h[one handles those challenges will define one as a leader and have a great deal to do with how effective one can be’’ (p.73). Advanced leaders plays the frontline leadership role, and applies their existing or new skills and knowledge to ensure clearer communication, retain strong teams, understand and lead the teams, effectively resolve conflicts, and attain higher productivity (Ibrahim, 2016).

In the sports world, advanced leaders can play the management and leadership role. Apart from doing the tasks themselves, they can empower their subordinates to implement and achieve anti-doping goals. Additionally, the fights against PEDs usage is both complex and challenging, advanced leaders are well equipped to handle them because they can both cope with complexity and the changes (Ibrahim, 2016). Thus, advanced leadership is a valuable tool in the fight against PEDs. The leaders can collaborate with their team and one another to root out the vice. They are able to successfully adopt and enforce anti-doping regulations. As principled and resolute leaders, advanced leaders can help formulate and enforce strong policies to protect whistleblowers and ensure both comprehensive screening and the exclusion of corrupt system and officials from international competitions. Such leaders can also exercise their influence to halt the global doping network.

References Ibrahim, L. Y. (2016). Effective Managerial Leardership and Challengesin Sport Organization. IOSR Journal of Sports and Physical Education (IOSR-JSPE), 3(5 [Sep.–Oct. 2016]), 73-80. Mannie, K. (2018, June 12). PEDs in Sports: The Ongoing Fight. Retrieved October 24, 2020, from COACH & AD: https://coachad.com/articles/peds-in-sports-the-ongoing-fight/ Rihal, C. S. (2017, December 14). The Importance of Leadership to Organizational Success. Retrieved October 29, 2020, from NEJM Catalyst: https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.17.0301 Ruiz, R. R. (2016, October 26). WADA Needs New Leadership, Antidoping Officials Strongly Suggest. Retrieved October 29, 2020, from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/27/sports/doping-wada-ioc-craig-reedie.html Sampla, S. (2014). Leadership And The Role Of A Leader In Sports. Retrieved October 29, 2020, from BelievePerform: https://believeperform.com/leadership-and-the-role-of-a-leader-in-sports/ Wolf Management Consultants, LLC. (nd). Advanced Leadership: The Eight Significant Principles. Retrieved October 29, 2020, from Wolf Management Consultants, LLC.: https://www.wolfmotivation.com/programs/advanced-leadership-the-eight-significant-principles