The role of self-exteem in coaches' leadership style

The coach's leadership style is an important element in the success of an athlete or sports team. There has been a lot of research carried out that has analysed different leadership styles and performances in sport, as well as the levels of motivation and satisfaction of athletes. From an educational perspective, the focus of this study is to investigate the factors that determine effective leadership for a coach and, in particular, self-esteem. Self-esteem is a factor that has a decisive influence on the behaviour and relationships that the individual entertains with the surrounding environment. The research presented here is the first part of a larger project that involves the implementation of a psychoeducational programme on coaches, aimed at developing effective leadership by acting on self-esteem. The results are related to the descriptive research carried out on a sample of 38 coaches of adolescent athletes, both in individual and team sports. The measurement of variables was conducted with the Multidimensional Leadership Scale for Sport (Chelladurai and Saleh, 1980) and the Rosenberg Self Esteem (Rosenberg, 1965). The results show that the level of self-esteem is inversely correlated with the Democratic and Training And Education style. These data, together with those form a further ongoing descriptive study, will be the basis for the definition of the psychoeducational project for coaches.