We do not need leaders, we need coactors

Jo Line, Jill Kochanek and Anna Baeth

Chapter 24 in Reimagining the Gendering of Sport, 2025, pp 262-277 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: A leader's expression of power over followers is inherent to the concept of leadership (Suyemoto & Ballou, 2007). The effects of the power differential perpetuated by the concept of leadership has proven detrimental to those in lower-status positions in sport organizations, leading to harmful instances of sexism and other forms of violence. In this chapter, we take a critical feminist approach to calling leadership into question. We envision a future of sport in which success is measured by the safety and healing that participants experience. For this vision to become a reality, we must reimagine how team members can work together. The inherent leader/follower hierarchy of leadership constrains this reimagining. Echoing Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's (1987) notion of rhizomes, we aim to identify more equitable and collaborative approaches to working together in which team members are viewed as inherently worthy and interconnected. We do not need leaders. We need coactors.

Keywords: Leadership; Collaboration; Teamwork; Equity; Power; Feminism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035310203
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