Acta Univ. Palacki. Olomuc., Gymn. 2010 40(4): 41-51

Leadership in non governmental sports organisations in Slovenia

Gregor Jurak, Jakob Bednarik
Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana

Background: Voluntary work represents 13.5% of the economic strength of Slovenian extra curricular sport (Jurak & Bednarik, 2006). Therefore, managing such a significant source is an important task of Slovenian sports management.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to discover the existing characteristics of the leadership of voluntary workers in Slovenian non governmental sports organisations.

Methods: Research was carried out on a stratified sample of 190 leaders of non governmental sports organisations, who work in different segments of Slovenian sport. A questionnaire on styles of leadership, based on the Hersey-Blanchard situation model of leadership, was used in order to measure different styles of leadership.

Results: The study revealed that the leaders in sports organisations most often use the selling style of leadership (42% of cases), then the participating style (37%), whereas the telling style (12%) and delegating style (9%) are used rarely. Leaders adjust the style of leadership to individual circumstances; however, they do not use suitable style of leading for the level of follower readiness and circumstances. The style of leadership does not have a direct impact on the measured indicators of the success of sports organisations. The findings lead to the conclusion that the leadership of Slovenian non governmental sports organisations is generally blind to the importance of leadership in this context.

Conclusions: Considering the above average results of the entire range of Slovenian sport, it can be assumed that the voluntary work in sports organisations represents one of the competitive advantages in our society. Thus, particular attention has to be paid to its developmental possibilities. The findings of the study lead to the suggestion of the foundation of a national strategy of voluntary work in sport.

Keywords: sports management, volunteers, organisational successfulness, situational model of leadership

Prepublished online: May 10, 2011; Published: September 1, 2010  Show citation

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Jurak, G., & Bednarik, J. (2010). Leadership in non governmental sports organisations in Slovenia. Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis. Gymnica, 40(4), 41-51
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