On Arsenal’s Leadership; what is it, who is it, why is it? « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager
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On Arsenal’s Leadership
By Martin Doyle
Much has been said and written about the leadership of Arsenal, mainly around the lack of leadership on the pitch. I want to think about leadership in this article, I want to explore it with you and ask one fundamental question – what is it? I want you to go through this article as if you were Arsene Wenger, and think of Cesc Fabregas as your captain and ask important questions. At the end of the article, choose your captain.
Take a moment and conjure the image of what you believe a leader looks like, the stereotype of a leader…..
Do you think that image is the same for everyone? Now ask yourself does a leader have certain traits? Is a leader born? Do they develop and is it therefore behavioural? This issue of perception make leadership one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth.
There is not one definition of leadership. Stogdilla leading scholar in the field of leadership stated “…there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept.”
There is a vast academic field containing six main schools of thought, along with their own theories. As we go through the field put yourself in the shoes of Wenger as best you can and think about Cesc.
Trait Theory
The earliest theory on leadership was “Trait Theory of Leadership”. The most prominent work on this theory was conducted by Thomas Carlyle and Francis Galton. Carlyle identified the common skills and traits of men that rose to power. Galton looked at the leadership qualities of men that were in power, Galton concluded that the leadership skills diminished after the first and second relations and believed that leadership was something you are born with. This early research led to the first theory of leadership, namely trait theory.
The early research was empirical with over a hundred studies conducted which led to the following key traits:
Intelligence Dominance Adaptability Persistence
Integrity Socio economic status Self confidence
If we look at these traits would you say Cesc does not possess any of them? The conception of these early studies was that a leader is someone that stands out in a group because of their ability to help the group attain their goals. This view proposed that leadership could not be viewed as a static set of attributes ideal for any environment. The main contribution of early trait theory was to shed light on the idea that leadership could be situation dependent. Do Cesc Fabregas’ abilities stand out on the pitch? Do his abilities help the team attain their goals?
Situational and Contingency Theory
Situational and Contingency theory was also provoked by trait theory and was more focussed on the situational or environmental factors which create leadership. Herbert Spence stated that the “times produce the person” and not the other way around. The proposition of this theory is that different characteristics are suitable for different situations. The conclusion being that no one single optimal set of attributes exist. We need to consider the optimal set of attributes we want from our captain, what are the attributes we need?
Style and Behaviour
The style and behaviour of a leader is another important perspective within Leadership research. Two main studies were carried out initially to examine this phenomenon, the Ohio State Leadership studies and the Michigan State Studies.
Fleishman performed a factor analysis on a questionnaire containing 150 items of behaviour. The author revealed two major types of behaviour “Consideration” and “Initiating Structure.” “Consideration” involved concern for people and focus on interpersonal relationships. “Initiating structure” was a leaders concern for completing a task.
The research found that there were three types of behaviours.
Task Orientated Behaviour: This found that effective leaders did not spend time doing the same tasks as subordinates; the behaviour involved more delegation and planning – I think there is a massive call for this type of behaviour at the club from many sections of the Arsenal support. However, is it fair to suggest that as a leader Cesc cannot alter behaviour when it is called for?
Relations Oriented Behaviour: The effective managers were also found to be supportive and helpful with subordinates. Some of the behaviours that were particularly effective were showing trust, acting friendly and being considerate to subordinates and supporting the subordinates with resources. I think, and I cannot say for sure as I do not know the man, but I think Cesc shows this style of leadership, which is a good thing, right???
Participative Leadership: the effective managers were also found to supervise groups as opposed to individual supervision. The managers used group meetings to facilitate their decision making, improve the communication of the group and promote co-operation. I think this is a given for any captain on the field…. But if you think of it as leading by example, doe Cesc do this? I think he does. Think back to when Ramsey broke his leg.
Leadership Style
Transformational leadership is derived from early theories of inspirational leadership. According to Burns the transformational approach creates a significant change in people or followers’ lives. The leader is able to re-shape perceptions and values and changes the aspirations of their followers. This is in contrast to the give and take attributes of transactional leadership which is more of an exchange process and is criticized for not being able to achieve high levels of motivation. Bass believes that the two styles are not mutually exclusive, though they have distinct characteristics.
Transformational leadership increases motivation and performance, while transactional leadership involves an exchange process and is not so effective in achieving high motivation and performance. It is considered that using both styles is the ideal, and this is what effective leaders can do. Think deeply about Cesc, this theory is about the charisma of the leader and what he gets from his team mates.
Emotional Intelligence
Scholars believe that high emotional intelligence is critical for a leader to improve leadership effectiveness, emphasis is being placed more and more on Emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ is made up of five attributes (self-awareness, emotional management, self-motivation, empathy, and relationship management) it is the combination of being in control of one’s own emotion and monitoring the feelings, beliefs, and internal states of others.
The leader is then able to provide useful information and guide their teams thinking and action. The captain has to deal with people and there are many different personalities. Each person has their own role to play and their own motives, how you deal with an unhappy team-mate may be different to how you deal with a talented up and coming youth player who isn’t happy. The different approaches and skills for these relationships could be linked to the emotional intelligence of the leader and how they decide to deal with such issues may help the captain to reflect on their own approach and develop their own emotional intelligence. Is this a strength of Cescs?
This article only skims the surface of leadership, but I think it will help us to think about leadership more deeply. There are a lot of issues to consider when you select a leader with every person having strengths and weaknesses. It is not necessarily a given that a task oriented captain shouting and organising is the best choice.