Team Sky: Competing Paradigms of Shared Leadership

Keywords: Shared Leadership, Team, Sports

Abstract: Forms of shared and collective leadership have gained increasing traction within the leadership and management literatures, but disagreement remains regarding their effectiveness. Using case study methodology (Yin, 2013), we examine the shared leadership structure of Team Sky during the 2012 Tour de France. Findings are discussed relative to the effectiveness of shared leadership duties within team competitions, and we introduce an additional co-leadership motivation, calculator, to the extant typology from Heenan and Bennis (1999). We conclude by discussing organizational and team structures that are necessary for successful implementation of shared leadership and identify factors that can undermine its implementation.