Abstract
The majority of athlete leadership research has examined large interdependent sport teams with little research investigating the leadership behaviours in dyadic teams (Wickwire et al., 2004). This is unfortunate considering empirical evidence has shown that group size can greatly influence group-related factors including leadership (Widmeyer et al., 1990). Therefore, the purpose was to examine the commonalities and differences in athlete leadership behaviours between ice dancing partners. Six individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with three competitive ice dance teams. Using a full range leadership perspective (Avolio, 1999), athletes reported engaging in a variety of transactional (exchange processes between leaders and followers, where followers receive direct rewards for their actions) and transformational (personal, emotional, and inspirational exchanges between leaders and followers, where the goal is to develop followers to their fullest potential) leadership behaviours. Further, the partners indicated sharing the leadership within the team. In particular, the athletes reported the use of both different and complementary leadership behaviours. Based on the findings that emerged from the interviews, there is evidence that partners collectively exerted influence on one another. The results are discussed in relation to the implications of having shared leadership within dyadic teams.
