Psychology in leadership

Psychological Factors in Sport

Activity – Pair activity

Write why you think it is important to understand psychological factors when leading a sporting activity or being a sports leader.

Be prepared to present your findings to the class

Social loafing

What is meant by the term ‘social loafing’?

If I was pulling a rope?

Case of the rope pulling contest

• Rope Pulling:– As you add more and more people to a group

pulling on a rope, the total force exerted by the group rose, but the average force exerted by each group member declined. (Ringlemann)

Social Loafing

BASIC PRINCIPLE

The larger the number of individuals whose work is combined on a group task, the smaller is each individual’s contribution.

Social Loafing

• Ringelmann (1913, 1927) observed that men pulling on a rope attached to a dynamometer exerted less force in proportion to the number of people in the group:The Ringelmann effect

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Expected performance

Actual performance

Development of Team Cohesion

Discussion Activity

How could we ensure that we reduce the Riglemann effect as much as possible during the coaching of our sporting activities.

Team dynamics and cohesion

CohesionFlipchart – group activity

You have been named head coach a sports team in the college (your choice)

What measures are you going to put in place to encourage cohesion.

Present your findings to the class

Team Dynamics

• A group is two or more people• A group has a collective identity and a sense of

shared purpose, mutual awareness • Successful groups has a strong collective

identify. • They socialise, share ambitions and goals• They have good communication, value

everyone's input

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqKJ3wSnzRI

Social or task

Cohesion

Pair activity

What do you think influences Group cohesion?

In pairs record your answers and be prepared to answer questions

Group development

• Stability - Cohesion develops the longer a group is together with the same members

• Similarity- Cohesion develops when the more similar the group members are in terms of age, sex, skills and attitudes

• Size - Cohesion develops more quickly in small groups • Support - Cohesive teams tend to have managers and coaches

who provide support to team members and encourage them to support one another

• Satisfaction- Cohesion is associated with the extent to which team members are pleased with each others performance, behaviour and conformity to the norms of the team

Group formation

Talent or blend

• Michael Jordan – “Talent wins games, but teamwork championships”

• Talented teams – playing poorly• Less talented teams - succeed

Can you name any successful teams?

What made these teams successful?

Open your envelops

Divide the contents up between the group

Join the pieces together to compete the text

In completing the task, did you?• A common vision • Clear and definite goals which go hand-in-hand with this

vision • Members who share their understanding of strategy and

tactics • Great inner discipline (meaning they act professionally

together) • Players with characteristics which complement each other • A good division of roles among the players, with all members

treated equally • Players who put the common good before their own interests • Players who take responsibility for the whole team, with

everyone accepting mistakes as long as people do their best.

What's the different between a group and a team?

Team or Group?

• Complex definitions• badminton class, karate club or exercise class

as a “group”?• groups of people who play soccer or volleyball

as a “team”?• A collection of people are not necessarily a

group and a group is not necessarily a team

How a group becomes a team

• Evolutionary process• Teams are constantly changing and developing• Groups go through four stages of

development (Tuckman, 1965)• Vary in duration and sequence for different

groups

Cohesion

Card sorting activity – Groupwork

Look at a Tuckman’s stages of group development and sort out the order in which they should be ranked.

Be prepared to justify your choice

Four stages of development

Forming Storming Norming Performing

Forming

• 1st stage• Where members become familiar with other

members• Team engages in social comparisons, assessing

each others strengths and weaknesses• Individuals also try to determine if they belong

to the group

Storming

• 2nd stage• Characterised by: – resistance to the leader, – resistance to control by the group– interpersonal conflict

• Occurs when there is a established• Infighting can occur• Relieving stress will help

Norming

• 3rd stages• Conflicts are resolved and a sense of unity

forms• Athletes work together to reach a common

goal• Group cohesion occurs at this stage

Cohesion

• “the total field of forces which act on members to remain in the group” (Festinger et al, 1950)

• Many definitions• Cohesion comprises of:– Task cohesion – Social cohesion

• Explains how teams overcome conflict to succeed (Carron, 1992)

Performing

• Final stage• Channel energies for team success• The team focuses on problem solving• Roles are well defined• Team members respect and encourage

accomplishments