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Perceptions of leadership behaviours and their effect on the attrition of national athletes : the case of the Singapore Amateur Athletic Association (SAAA)
Author
Tan, See Keng
Supervisor
Lee, Bervyn
Abstract
The high attrition of seven elite professional athletes from the Singapore Amateur Athletic Association (SAAA) over a short period of four years between 1997 and 2000, created a very unhealthy image for the leadership of SAAA. This state of affairs is a cause for concern for the future of Singapore athletics. The purpose of this study was to examine athletes' perceptions of leadership behaviours and to determine whether these perceptions contributed significantly to their dropping out of the sport.
Following the phenomenological interview research approach as postulated by Dale (1996), two ex-elite athletes shared their experiences and perceptions. For the purpose of triangulation, a national coach, a senior official from the SAAA and an official from the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) were invited to share their experiences.
The results, indicating athletes' decisions to drop out from the sport full-time, were clustered under one general them, perceived poor leadership behaviours of the SAAA. This them covered five higher order themes that included the athletes' perceptions of poor management skills, autocratic leadership style, poor communication skills, biased decision-making and selection and lack ok empathy.
Contemporary leadership theories (e.g. Anshel and Straub, 1991; Branch, 1990) suggest that misperceptions lead to miscommunication. This may be addressed by leaders who may adjust their leadership behaviours to meet the needs of their athletes, not just from the funding point of view but also from the development of good interpersonal relationships with their subordinates.
The findings suggest that there is theoretical support for a correlation between the perceptions of leadership behaviours by administrators, sports officials and the attrition of athletes.
Following the phenomenological interview research approach as postulated by Dale (1996), two ex-elite athletes shared their experiences and perceptions. For the purpose of triangulation, a national coach, a senior official from the SAAA and an official from the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) were invited to share their experiences.
The results, indicating athletes' decisions to drop out from the sport full-time, were clustered under one general them, perceived poor leadership behaviours of the SAAA. This them covered five higher order themes that included the athletes' perceptions of poor management skills, autocratic leadership style, poor communication skills, biased decision-making and selection and lack ok empathy.
Contemporary leadership theories (e.g. Anshel and Straub, 1991; Branch, 1990) suggest that misperceptions lead to miscommunication. This may be addressed by leaders who may adjust their leadership behaviours to meet the needs of their athletes, not just from the funding point of view but also from the development of good interpersonal relationships with their subordinates.
The findings suggest that there is theoretical support for a correlation between the perceptions of leadership behaviours by administrators, sports officials and the attrition of athletes.
Date Issued
2004
Call Number
GV663.S55 Tan
Date Submitted
2004