In the sport industry there are leaders in the game and behind the scenes. It is very important to have a strong leader in making the decisions and providing a focus to the organization. If there is not a person in a leadership role then the organization can become unbalanced and there could develop at lack of drive towards the organizations goals. Leaders in the sports industry have to be able to handle the many factors that the organization will face. Some of these factors are actors, culture, processes, structure, and environment. For example, the Minnesota Timberwolves organization, like many sports organizations, is a very vertical organization. There are many people within the organization that are specialized in one area. There is a main leader at the top and then it trickles down the ladder adding only a few more people each step of the way until you get towards the bottom where it stretches out.
In this type of structure there are many actors within the organization that can influence decisions, but the leadership role and the decision maker is still up to one man. The reason why the actors within the organization have some say is because they are specialized giving them some expert authority. In the case of the culture in the organization, the leader needs to be able to work within that culture. If there are some opposing ideas of what the culture is from the leader then the organization will have issues running effectively. This ties right into the process of the organization, because the leaders in the organization are responsible for the organization running smoothly. The structure of the organization is also part of the leadership's responsibility to figure out because they need to understand which type of structure would work best in the particular case. In the case of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the vertical structure gave the organization the best chance to get the specialized talent they need whether it is in the Basketball Operations side of the Organization Management side of the organization. Finally the environment to which the organization in submersed in. The leaders in the organization need to understand the environment to which they will work with in order to grow the organization. For the Timberwolves case, the environment is in an economic low with a team which is not looked at as a fan favorite because they are behind the Vikings, Twins, and Wild (for some people, not me). This will shape how the leader will show the team and run the team. The Timberwolves are focused more on rebuilding and seeing what the young talent they have can do, so that is the whole organizations mission. They are trying new things to get the most positive attention. Where on the other hand the Vikings are looking to go to the Super Bowl and they are focused on winning and continually keeping the high fan interest. In their campaigns, they are all about the great plays that are happening now where as the Timberwolves are all about the future. In any case the leader of the organization needs to be able to understand each aspect of the organization. They also need to be able to go with the flow and be flexible with the changing market of the sports industry.
I agree with Ryan when he comments about the importance of a leaders’ effect on a sport organizations balance. A good leader will seek to build a well rounded sport organization in hopes of operating as smoothly as possible. Many times you will see leaders that focus too much energy and too many resources in one area of the sport organization. To be an effective leader you need to create a healthy balance for the organization to be successful through the use of your resources and personnel. I also agree with Ryan when he comments on the fact that a good leader needs to be able to work within the culture of the sport organization. I would go further to say that an effective leader should be able to have an impact on the culture within his or her sport organization to direct it towards the organizations goals. For example, if there are people that are creating disunity within the organization, then the leader needs to address the issue and try to maintain a culture within the sport organization that will stay on track to reach the organizations goals.
Leaders within an organization are obviously vitally important and I think Ryan really got that idea through his post. I think the saddest part about leadership in sport organizations is that organizations are still struggling to find effective leaders to lead their organization. I believe there are plenty of leaders out there that can be effective in an organization and there are still so many organizations that haven't been able to commit to finding leaders to fill these positions. I think the Timberwolves are an interesting example of leadership and organizational structure. Ryan described the Timberwolves as a very vertical organization which means that high level decisions are made by a select few individuals. This being said, for the last several years these select few individuals have been part of the reason that the team has been so unsuccessful both in terms of on-the-court success and in terms of organizational success as a whole. The Timberwolves upper management from the time of the Joe Smith illegal signing bonus fiasco has demonstrated a lack of understanding for how to operate a professional basketball team while maintaining the future of the organization. However, the team has now committed to a new leadership strategy and a new leadership philosophy that could bring the organization a new future. The Timberwolves will have an opportunity to create a new leadership strategy that will change how the organization operates in the future. I thought Ryan's example was great and provided a great opportunity for future research considering how the team adapts to the changes.