Research Topic
The topic I will be conducting research on is how servant and transformational leadership can
affect coaching and their football teams. I am conducting this research in order to evaluate the
positive sides of servant leadership and transformational leadership. The research will not be
restricted to explore the pros of these leadership styles but also evaluate the hardships in
implementing both leadership styles in coaching and organizations. Leadership is one of the
primary keys to success in any corporation. Leaders have the responsibility to show the way for
their followers to follow. Being a leader is not an easy task since it requires commitment,
dedication, sacrifice, and courage to face anything that might come on the way. Servant and
transformational leadership majorly emphasize service to others and note that companies can
build individuals with the ability to better the future. Both leadership styles are entirely different
from laissez-faire leadership, autocratic leadership, and democratic leadership since these types
of leadership focus on working on organizations and making them thrive.
What is servant leadership? In this theory, a leader places his subordinates’ needs before his own
to improve the organization as a whole. It lists listening, humility, encouragement, and trust as
essential servant leader qualities (Sullivan, 2019). Sullivan states servant leadership requires
moral purpose; furthermore, a servant leader must be authentic, vulnerable, accepting, present
and valuable (Sullivan, 2019). As seen in Matthew 20:25-28, the Holy Bible appears to liken
Christ’s leadership to that of a servant leader. Jesus performed even the most essential leadership
tasks and did so in a manner that exalted and served the Lord; He lived his life to serve others
(Locke, 2019) and called on all of us to serve as well. Is this the genesis of the servant leadership
theory? Or is this the beginning of a misconception? Blanchard (2005) suggests that Jesus
wanted us to follow the Lord as our leader, and in so doing, we would let Him lead us, hence
“Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” (Matthew, 6:13). Servant leadership
requires leaders to be more engaged with their employees. It has shown significant success in
elevating the commitment and productivity of teams across many organizations that practice this
leadership theory. As Christians, we must endeavor to emulate Christ and serve the Lord, but we
must be careful not to compare or confuse “servant leadership” with Jesus mission to serve and
exalt our Father. A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps (King James
Bible, 1769/2017, Proverbs 16:1)
Transformational leadership can create a valuable and positive change in employees to help them
transition to leaders. Many researchers have found in recent researches that a transformational
leadership style has a beneficial connection with employee engagement (Mihem et al., 2019).
Transformational leaders are able to connect with their followers by gaining their trust, respect,
and loyalty. “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to
reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (New International Version, 1985/2002,
2 Timothy 2:2, New International Version). The goal of any organization and leaders is to move
employees from their comfort zone to perform beyond expected. The transformational leader is
seen as the person who has certain personal or leadership characteristics, like inspirational
motivation, intellectual stimulation, idealized impact (charisma), and individual consideration
that assists him or her to go beyond the simple transactions or just reward exchange relationships
with subordinates and share values, needs and vision of the future (Mihem et al., 2019).
Therefore, any employee is then motivated to follow his or her leader’s example because of the
respect for their leader. Transformational leadership has positive impacts on all levels of
collectivism (House et al., 2014).
Problem and Purpose Statement
As a coach in collegiate sports, you are given the task of molding students from the ages of 18-
23 into men and women that are next up to lead this country in the right direction. Some of the
athletes will be your future lawyers, doctors, teachers, and possibly the next president and CEOs
of this great country we live in. The problem we encounter here is how can we shape and mold
these very impressionable student athletes into the best possible version of them, to enable them
to be the best possible person in the career path they choose? The topic I chose was one that is
very important to me. As a former college athlete, I feel it is imperative that a coach take the
time out to personally meet every athlete that they are coaching or leading. This is just the tip of
the iceberg when it comes to servant and transformational leadership.
Importance
Servant and transformational leadership practice enriches the lives of people and creates a better
corporation and creates a more caring and fair world. Eva et al., (2019) mentioned the systematic
need and for future research for servant leadership. Further, the research is needed to explore
servant leadership across a wider range of cultures. Servant and transformational leadership are
the most followed leadership models across the world so the need of this research is to explore
the scenarios where both of these leadership models were implemented successfully. Servant
leaders feels responsible for helping people learn and grow, feel purposeful, motivated,
energized, and contribute at their highest level. The opportunity this research offers is for the
leaders who are new in the coaching industry and looking for ways to maximize their success.
Further, servant leadership has advanced the practice of leadership in a diverse way related to
listening, language and imagination, withdrawal, empathy and acceptance, and going beyond the
conscious personality. So, this research is going to create an opportunity for leaders to improve
their skills in all these fields.
Why conduct this research?
The following research is aiming to analyze the servant and transformational leadership styles
and all the leadership traits associated with them. The focus of the research is to look for
scenarios that will explain the successful implementation of servant and transformational
leadership in different organizations. Servant leadership is most convenient on the healthcare
platforms whereby the leaders, including nurses, doctors, and caregivers, are devoted to serving
others that are the patients and ensure that they receive proper care. Servant and transformational
leadership are also used by the army and police force in general who take an oath to serve the
nation. So, another goal is to analyze how both leadership styles are assisting these organizations
to do well. With the help of credible available resources and biblical integration, the research
will aim to look for the factors that encourage leaders to adopt such leadership styles Robson &
McCartan (2016, p.84).
Research Questions
I will be reaching out to coaches in the area around me and asking a set of questions that I found
online to asses a coach’s stance on servant and transformational leadership.
1. How would you describe your relationship with players in the past?
2. How would your two most recent coaches describe your leadership style/abilities?
3. How have you evolved/grown as a leader?
4. What kind of attributes/characteristics would you like to see in your team?
5. What kind of locker room culture do you think increases team morale and player motivation
level?
6. How would past coaches and players rate your leadership skills? What would they say about
your leadership style?
7. Tell me 3 things that describe your management style.
8. If we spoke with past players and coaches, what would they say about you?
9. Do you practice servant leadership and if so, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this
type of leadership?
10. Working with a large team, it's easy to get bogged down in day-to-day operations and not be
available to engage with and visit your players and coaches outside the office. How will you
approach
this to ensure open communication?
11. What was your greatest disappointment as a coach and how did you handle it?
12. What obstacles have you overcome?
13. What relationships have you developed that you are particularly proud of and what was the
impact as a result of these relationships?
Nature of the study
The nature of the study will be utilizing my access to coaches in the area to be able to get their
input on how these two types of leadership affects their teams on and off the field. This will
allow me to be able to get a broader perspective on what is good and bad about both sides of
transformational as well as servant leadership. One would like to believe that both these
leadership styles are always going to work but when it comes to coaching you have to seek God
and be able to adapt to what fits your team to ensure the successful implementation of these
leadership styles. God works in mysterious ways but it is up to you as a person to seek after him
to understand these works.
References
Blanchard, K. (2018). Servant leadership in action: How you can achieve great relationships
and results. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Eva, N., Robin, M., Sendjaya, S., van Dierendonck, D., & Liden, R. (2019). Servant Leadership:
A systematic review and call for future research. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), 111-
132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.07.004
House, R. J., Dorfman, P. W., Javidan, M., Hanges, P. J., & Sully de Luque, M. F.
(2014). Strategic leadership across cultures: the Globe study of Ceo leadership behavior
and effectiveness in 24 countries. Sage.
King James Bible. (2020). King James Bible Online.
Locke, L. G. (2019). The Clay Feet of Servant Leadership. Journal of Biblical Integration in
Business, 22(1), 34–42.
Milhem, M., Muda, H., & Ahmed, K. (2019). The Effect of Perceived Transformational
Leadership Style on Employee Engagement: The Mediating Effect of Leader’s Emotional
Intelligence. Foundations of Management, 11(1), 33–42. https://doi.org/10.2478/fman-
2019-0003
New International Version (2011). New International Version
Online www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/#booklist
Robson, C. & McCartan, K. (2016). Real world research: A resource for users of social research
methods in applied settings. Wiley.
Sullivan, G. S. (2019). Servant Leadership: An Introduction. In Servant Leadership in Sport (pp.
31-39). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
