Contemporary Leadership in Sport Organizations 3rd Edition

Contemporary Leadership in Sport Organizations, Third Edition, equips sport management students and practitioners with the leadership skills needed to succeed in today’s complex, fast-changing sport industry.

This third edition integrates contemporary leadership theory with the realities shaping modern sport organizations. Across all sections of the text, updated research and new sport industry examples—including name, image, and likeness (NIL) changes; the transfer portal; enterprise risk analysis; decision science; data analytics; and artificial intelligence—demonstrate how leaders must operate in data-rich, highly dynamic environments.

Updates in the third edition include the following:

• Key Takeaways at the end of each chapter provide actionable insights that can be applied in real-world situations.
• Questions for Discussion promote engagement and assess understanding of key chapter concepts.
• The full-color design enhances photos and illustrations, improving clarity and visual appeal.
• Interactive branching scenarios in the web resource guide students through choices to identify optimal solutions to various situations.

At its core, the text positions leadership as a distinct discipline rather than simply a subset of sport management. As such, it serves as an applied, next-step leadership resource for programs seeking stronger alignment with real-world complexity, strategic decision making, and contemporary sport issues—shifting the focus from leadership development to leadership in action.

To reinforce this applied approach, the online web resource included with the text contains case studies, interactive scenarios, and leadership style self-assessments to emphasize critical thinking, practical application, and decision making across youth, collegiate, professional, and global sport settings.

In addition, traditional leadership models are expanded and updated to reflect today’s demands, with enhanced coverage of adaptive, agile, distributed, and emotionally intelligent leadership. This evolution is further supported by increased attention to organizational culture, ethics, diversity, and international perspectives, ensuring a comprehensive and forward-looking view of leadership in sport.

Today’s sport organization leaders are expected not only to deliver results but also to build trust, strengthen organizational culture, and demonstrate authenticity and accountability to stakeholders. Contemporary Leadership in Sport Organizations prepares future leaders to meet this challenge.

Note: A URL to access the online materials is included in this print book.

Audience

Primary text for upper-level undergraduate or graduate sport management courses in sport leadership; reference for academic libraries and researchers in sport management and leadership.

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. The Architecture of Leadership: Models That Shape Action
Traditional Versus Contemporary Leadership
Settings for Leadership in Sport Organizations
Management and Leadership: Mutually Exclusive or Integrated?
Additional Frameworks for Understanding Leadership
Historical Leadership Theory and Research
Research in Sport Leadership: Past, Present, Future
Contemporary Leadership Thought

Chapter 2. Balancing Leadership: Results, Relationships, and Responsibilities
Results
Relationships
Responsibilities

Chapter 3. Leading With Emotional Intelligence
Defining and Describing EI
Why Is EI Important for Sport Leaders?
History and Development of EI Research
Effectively Applying EI in Organizational Leadership
EI and Coaching
EI, Public Communication, and Social Media
Development and Training for Improving EI

Chapter 4. Building a Culture of Success
Leadership and Organizational Culture: The Foundation
Foundational Research in Sport and Recreation Organizational Culture
Building a Culture of Success in Sport Organizations

Chapter 5. Shaping the Future Through Vision and Strategy
Leadership and Vision in Sport Organizations
Strategic Leadership

Chapter 6. Navigating Complexity: Risk, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
A Complex Environment for Leadership
Mastering Risk in Sport Organizations—A Leadership Imperative
Sources of Complex Problems and Enterprise Risk in Sport Organizations
Approaches to Problem Solving
Decision Science and Decision-Making Models

Chapter 7. Guiding Stakeholders Through Change, Turnaround, and Crisis
Change Leadership
Turnaround Leadership
Crisis Leadership

Chapter 8. Leading Diverse Teams and Organizations: Motivation and Shared Purpose
A Comprehensive View of Diversity in the Sport Industry
Comprehensive and Historical Perspective of Diversity in Sport and Physical Activity
Cultural Agility for Modern Organizations
Surface-Level Versus Deep-Level Diversity
Cultural Diversity and Organizational Competitiveness
Diversity Management
Individuals With Disabilities
Considerations Moving Forward

Chapter 9. Leading Beyond Borders: Globalization, Cross-Cultural Relations, and International Business
Globalization and Its Impact
Leading Across Cultures
History, Society, and Politics in International Sport
International Sport Business and Emerging Trends
Global Esports

Chapter 10. Cultivating a Learning Mindset: Continuous Leadership Development in a Fast Paced World
Preparing for Future Leadership
Perspectives on Continuous Leadership Development
How Do We Learn to Lead?
Leadership Learning Applied
Sport Organizations as Learning Organizations
Planning and Implementing Leadership Development

References
Index
About the Authors

David Scott, EdD, is a professor, former higher education administrator, and leadership scholar whose career has focused on the study and practice of leadership, organizational effectiveness, and systems thinking in educational and sport organizations. He currently serves as a managing partner at Rational Risk LLC, where he applies research-informed approaches to organizational resilience, enterprise risk management, and performance improvement.

From 2017 to 2024 Dr. Scott was dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, where he provided leadership for academic programs, accreditation, budgeting, strategic planning, and community partnerships. During his tenure, he helped guide his academic unit through significant organizational challenges, including service on the university’s incident command team during Hurricane Harvey and leadership of instruction continuity efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to his deanship, he spent nearly three decades in higher education as a professor, department chair, and associate dean at the University of New Mexico, where he led research, assessment, and community engagement initiatives and oversaw a research enterprise generating more than $4 million annually in external funding.

Before entering higher education administration, Dr. Scott worked as a teacher, athletic coach, and faculty member—experiences that continue to inform his perspective on leadership and organizational performance. His scholarly interests include leadership theory, organizational culture, governance, assessment, and continuous improvement. He has authored textbooks, book chapters, and peer-reviewed publications and has chaired more than 20 doctoral dissertations examining leadership and organizational effectiveness.

Dr. Scott holds an EdD from the University of Northern Colorado, a master’s degree from Midwestern State University, and a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University.

Mark LaSota, PhD, MBA, is a faculty member in the department of kinesiology and sport management at Texas A&M University. He also oversees departmental education-abroad programs and the international option of the sport management culminating experience. With more than two decades in higher education, Dr. LaSota has held faculty and administrative positions across public and private universities, community colleges, and proprietary institutions.

His scholarly work focuses on sport leadership, organizational culture, peak performance, and international business. A recognized thought leader in leadership development, Dr. LaSota has authored more than 40 articles as a Forbes contributor and has been featured in numerous media outlets because of his expertise. He has shared his leadership insights with audiences worldwide through keynote presentations and workshops. Among his speaking engagements, he delivered a TEDx talk on the concept of unbreakable leadership.

In addition to his academic career, Dr. LaSota brings extensive industry experience across sport, fitness, and business sectors. His professional background includes coaching, scouting, event management, facility supervision, and entrepreneurship, as well as roles in marketing, operations, public relations, security, and guest experience within professional sport organizations and leagues, including the National Football League and the Houston Texans. He also provides leadership and performance consulting for companies and sport organizations.

Dr. LaSota earned a PhD in sport administration from the University of New Mexico. He holds two master’s degrees: an MBA in international business from New Mexico Highlands University and a master’s in sport psychology from California State University–Fresno. His bachelor’s degree in exercise science is from Ball State University.

All ancillaries are free to adopting instructors through HKPropel.

Instructor guide. For each chapter, the guide contains a summary of key points, instruction strategies, a chapter outline, learning activities, assignments and activities, self-assessment questions, questions for discussion, and one to two case studies. The case studies contain three open-ended discussion questions each and sample responses for each question.

Test package. Contains 30 questions in true-false, fill-in-the-blank, essay and short-answer, and multiple-choice formats. The files may be downloaded for integration with a learning management system or printed for use as paper-based tests. Instructors may also create their own customized quizzes or tests from the test bank questions.

Chapter quizzes. Contains ready-made quizzes (10 questions each) to assess student comprehension of the most important concepts in each chapter. Each quiz may be downloaded for integration with a learning management system.

Presentation package. Features 200 PowerPoint slides of text, artwork, and tables from the book that can be used for class discussion and presentation. The slides in the presentation package can be used directly within PowerPoint or printed to make handouts for students. Instructors can easily add, modify, and rearrange the order of the slides.