Leadership Skills Among Student-Athletes - Research Paper Example

Leadership Skills among Student-Athletes Abstract This research paper was conceived to understand the influence of student athlete and how it affects leadership in them. In most cases, it has been noted that student-athlete ends up becoming leaders outside in the society. It is this notion that has driven that research with the views of considering several athletes and tracing their trajectory on the role that they play in the society. In this regard, the paper has given focus on the effects of the leadership that the student-athletes acquire in schools such as being the captain in their future life as members of the society in terms of leadership. The interests of the research paper is it to determine how effective the leadership role is at the college stage transferred outside to the society. Besides this, the paper also explores how such people fairs on in other related fields like academics. The research was carried out with consideration of those who are student-athlete currently and those who were sometimes back for the purposes of comparison and communication of accurate data. Introduction It is true to the saying the leaders are born and that the ability to be an effective leader in naturally inherent, the preposition is considered objective and is believed. What needs to be emphasized is the fact that that does not mean other options of becoming leaders are all blocked. In other words, the statement only informs that there are other ways of becoming a leader in as much as others are naturally born (Street, 2008). This is to say that through nurturing, coaching, and positive engagement, those who were not naturally born leaders can be transformed to be effective leaders in the society. One such ways is through participating in the games during one’s life in school. When one becomes the captain of the team, at this stage, already they are bestowed with leadership responsibilities at various levels within the team. This orients even if one who was not born a leader to acclimatize with leadership skills (Street, 2008). The ability to lead and to develop qualities of a leader is imbibed following this move and culminates into leadership in a larger perspective. The leadership transition and transformation is what this research paper endeavors to discern-whether student-athlete have a head start in developing and practicing their leadership potential outside the confinement of the school. Literature Review It has been said that student athlete is full of contradiction and challenges that one must be very careful to jungle between and satisfy all other facets of life. As one of the famous student, athletes Wayne Gretzky would put it-there are many crazy things that come with being a student athlete. The student athlete acknowledges that one of the things they do is to work hard, they do not only do it in the sports but also for their grades (Abramson, 2008). It is thus important to note the student athletes are always mindful of other activities that are important to their lives. They are not only engrossed in the games at the expense of education. In fact, they say that the efforts they put in the games is replicated in anything they do and that is why they tend to be effective and supportive leaders in the future (Donald, n.d). Wayne admits that student athletes have the pressure of time; this is given by the fact that they have to strike a balance on very many activities given the nature of their lives. One can only manage to cope with the schedule by doing extra work and to stay ahead of the plan (Terrell and Cuyjet, 1994). Endurance and series of practice are part of success if one is a student athlete. During this course, different results also take place and one is bound to imbibe some traits and passion. In all these, an athlete student should also be prepared to face hurdles in his life, which includes and are not limited to stress, weak mental capacity, and character flaws (Fertman, 2009). All these are hardening them and are preparing them for future leadership. It should be recalled that for one to be a good leader, resiliency and the ability not give up are cardinal factors that cannot be ignored. Leadership needs sacrifice and time management with a legendry tolerance to the people given the diverse nature of the people one is likely to face (Fudzie and Hayes, 2006), these qualities one is able to acquire when he/she is a student athlete. It will be construed that Wayne is right when he posits that a student athlete is a busy person who has to find time in satisfying the demands of the school and those of the sports. He says that in this case a student athlete will always have no problem in having two extra more hours daily in order to fix a schedule run as expected. He says that in that regard, a little procrastination is also not impossible for such persons (Kissinger and Miller, 2009). This also brings the point of multitasking of the student athletes. It is true that procrastination is one of the factors that bedevil one’s life in more than one way, but once you are a student athlete, it is part of life in one way or the other. It is also a common phenomenon that most of the student athletes are very social; therefore, it is witnessed that whenever they are in school student tends to coalesce were they are. This gives them the courage to attend to crowd (Kouzes and Posner, 2008). They develop friends across the demographic features and this is a plus to them in preparation for future leadership. Student athletes are also mentally stronger people that normal ones. This situation comes with the fact that they do have greater perseverance, which includes the ability to go beyond their capacity during periods like cross-country (Sandeen, 2011). It is a feeling like ‘hitting the wall’ and once it is done, one remains much stronger mentally than before. This mental preparation makes the students acclimatize to difficult situation and will not observe problems in administering duties in an environment that requires stronger mental status. This make them to serve as role models in schools and others can emulate. In this sense, the factor of role model transits to the society and that it makes everything easier for them to take leadership role (Seideman, 2011). The life of a student athlete revolves about social life; this helps them to make rational decision on how to counter problems and be resilient to challenges; all these are the factors that people are looking for in leaders. This preparation given by being a student athlete is an essential foundation in leadership and it explains why they always stand out as popular leaders of substance (TJMichaels, n.d). It is clearly distinguishable on who can offer leadership after a short interaction with student who are athletes and those who are not. Methodology Designing methodology for this study was quite a challenge since most of the findings here were based on individual observation. It was more of a qualitative research than quantitative which involved observing the traits of a specified persons while other were collected through persons who are close to the selected ones for either confirmation or getting firsthand information. For time management, the students were monitored for their itinerary in the school and the rigor with which they do it. The student’s teachers and coaches also acted as good sources of information about the students. He same study method was also prescribed for students who are non-athlete for the simple reason of comparison. It was necessary that the information from both the students be compared for a report that gives a vice versa comparison status. The sample spread in this case was also considered and this saw the exercise done in more than 50 schools so that the data collected could not be skewed because of certain factors peculiar in certain areas of the study. The sample collection was also gender sensitive to avoid reporting a conclusion that is gender different. The sample size of the males and the females were almost balance for the purpose of this study to see if there is any difference based on gender. Age was not a big issues and since most of those considered were likely to have age difference with no consequences to the study results. Findings Following the methodology that was used in this research, it was found that most of the student athletes are of sound character and a sterling personality that can champion for the people and their interests. In terms of their social nature, they stands out, they show a higher degree of tolerance to issues that are sensitive and emotive. They also do not show dismay or signs of giving up, in other words they shows high level of resiliency in handling issues. They demonstrate understanding of humanity with absolute ability to listen actively in a conversation. In terms of time management, the student athlete demonstrated conscious time care and all of them demonstrated the sense of awareness of the next schedule. They seemed to be good time managers; moreover, the training they undergo was full of instruction and they took orders without hesitation. This demonstrates that they have been programmed through their commitment that it is important not to show a feeling of breakdown-endurance is part of their actions. The students also showed a surprising level of following, while in school everyone wants to be identified with them; probably that is why they are important members of the school. It is easier to give instruction through them since almost all the student will not object. Discussions In the normal situation, leaders are supposed to be people’s oriented in terms of services. This is in the sense that one has to show concern and commitment to every person they offer leadership too. In this regard, it will be appreciated that every person has a peculiar character that has to be dealt with in a particular pattern in order to be understood. This is not possible if a leader has no patience and time to appreciate this. These qualities if one is not inherently born with them are difficult to entertain. The traits that the student athletes do acquire while in their normal endeavors to cope with the games and academic life do quietly prepare them for the role of leadership in and outside school. The training on the management of time, resiliency, emotionally strong and tolerance are prerequisite in understanding and dealing with the people. Their association with many people also nurtures their ability to understand human psychology, which is very essential in managing the people. Their ability to multitask and work extra time in balancing time for themselves is another great preparation f the people for the role of leadership. In leadership, factors at times demand that one must get involved for longer period while addressing issues affecting the people. If one is not used to these, it might be misconstrued for punishment; therefore, when looked into keenly, student athletes are in a special way prepared unconsciously to be leaders who can offer effective leadership in all cadres. Conclusion In conclusion, there are worthy findings that should be noted in relation to the students-athlete. Most of the students are not academically charged because they tend to give much time to the co-curriculum activities at the expense of academic life. It is also possible that they tend to have a psychological departure more so if one is a celebrity. The celebrity factor get so much into their head that they can no longer cope with the requirement in the academic work. This serves as an indication leadership and academic performance should both be looked at in tandem. Whereas the student athletes end up being leaders outside in the society, it is important that they strike a balance between the co-activities and academic excellence. For one to be an effective leader emerging from student-athlete there should be a lot of nurturing which includes psychological preparation to avoid engaging in activities that can impairs ones social and academic life. References Abramson, H.S. (2008). Student athlete's guide to college. New York: Princeton Review Pub, Donald, j. (n.d). "Sports, school, social life: Student athletes 'only have time for 2' | Local & Regional News for Eugene, Springfield Oregon | Eugene News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KVAL CBS 13." Eugene News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KVAL CBS 13. N.p., Retrieved from http://www.kval.com/news/local/Athletics-academics-social-life-As-a-student-athlete-you-only-have-time-for-2-162295596.html Fertman, C.I. (2009). Student-athlete success: meeting the challenges of college life. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Fudzie, V, and Andre N.H. (2006). Your brain is a muscle too: how student athletes succeed in college and in life. New York, NY: Amistad. Kissinger, D.B., and Michael T.M. (2009). College student-athletes: challenges, opportunities, and policy implications. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Pub. Kouzes, J.M., and Barry Z. P. (2008). The student leadership challenge: five practices for exemplary leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Sandeen, A. (2011). Enhancing leadership in colleges and universities a case approach. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher. Seideman, E. (2011). The Coach As A Moral Leader And Exemplar For College-Aged Youth. Leiden: McGraw-Hill. Street, S.A. (2008). Life skills for the student-athlete. Boston: McGraw Hill. TJMichaels. (n.d). "Student Athletes and the Crazy Effects of Being One | Academic About school/college and sports/hobbies." Teen Ink | A teen literary magazine and website. Retrieved from http://www.teenink.com/nonfiction/academic/article/368435/Student-Athletes-and-the-Crazy-Effects-of-Being-One/ Terrell, Melvin C., and Michael J. Cuyjet. (1994). Developing student government leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Read More