Abstract
Objectives
The aims of this study were to explore the features of the athletic environment that influence thriving within a British Olympic and Paralympic sport organisation and to understand the interconnectedness of these factors across a range of individuals and contexts. These aims were pursued within a decentralised organisation that was undergoing a leader-led cultural change strategy.
Method
To develop an understanding of the environmental factors that facilitate athlete thriving, a 16-month ethnography was conducted. Data analysis consisted of reflexive thematic analysis of observational notes, reflexive diaries, and interview transcripts. The findings are presented in an ethnographic tale.
Results
Alongside the complexities of implementing a culture change strategy across a decentralised organisation, the ethnographic tale details three key features of the athletic environment targeted by senior leadership to successfully influence the athletes’ ability to thrive within their silos. Underpinning these factors are three interconnected themes of understanding, openness, and trust.
Conclusions
This study demonstrates how empowering devolved leadership was impactful for organisational culture by reducing the homogeneity of leader-centric change initiatives. Further, harnessing an organisation-wide commitment to promoting relationships founded on understanding, openness, and trust can create athletic environments that facilitate thriving. Therefore, while a decentralised structure may present challenges for promoting a duty of care, it is possible to create an environment that supports athletes to thrive.
The aims of this study were to explore the features of the athletic environment that influence thriving within a British Olympic and Paralympic sport organisation and to understand the interconnectedness of these factors across a range of individuals and contexts. These aims were pursued within a decentralised organisation that was undergoing a leader-led cultural change strategy.
Method
To develop an understanding of the environmental factors that facilitate athlete thriving, a 16-month ethnography was conducted. Data analysis consisted of reflexive thematic analysis of observational notes, reflexive diaries, and interview transcripts. The findings are presented in an ethnographic tale.
Results
Alongside the complexities of implementing a culture change strategy across a decentralised organisation, the ethnographic tale details three key features of the athletic environment targeted by senior leadership to successfully influence the athletes’ ability to thrive within their silos. Underpinning these factors are three interconnected themes of understanding, openness, and trust.
Conclusions
This study demonstrates how empowering devolved leadership was impactful for organisational culture by reducing the homogeneity of leader-centric change initiatives. Further, harnessing an organisation-wide commitment to promoting relationships founded on understanding, openness, and trust can create athletic environments that facilitate thriving. Therefore, while a decentralised structure may present challenges for promoting a duty of care, it is possible to create an environment that supports athletes to thrive.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 102247 |
| Journal | Psychology of Sport and Exercise |
| Volume | 62 |
| Early online date | 22 Jun 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Sept 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Following the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, there was a period of fundamental change in the governance of Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. This change was driven in part by the nation's high-performance sports agency, UK Sport, who launched a series of new campaigns (e.g., Cultural Health Check) with the purpose of instilling a “sustainable winning culture” within the sport organisations they fund (UK Sport, 2018). Within this change, the English Institute of Sport's performance psychology team launched Project Thrive which aimed to “facilitate the creation of psychologically underpinned and sustainable high-performance environments that develop the person as well as the performer to thrive” (EIS, 2018). Accordingly, many national governing bodies were committed to implementing new standards for athlete welfare, including policies and practices that safeguard well-being in the pursuit of athletic success (EIS, 2018). Against this backdrop, the 5th author (a member of the EIS) identified one such Olympic and Paralympic organisation where senior leadership were currently implementing a strategy to change their culture following their Culture Health Check and Walk the Floor Reviews. While the feedback from UK Sport had been largely positive, several concerns were raised that leadership wished to address. Namely, they aimed to foster greater support for sport science input, enhance athlete agency, move away from entrenched traditional practices, address perceived unfairness in behavioural standards, and promote a sense of cohesion. To achieve this, the organisation was implementing a psychologically informed cultural change strategy (CCS) with the aim of uniting the organisation behind shared values, beliefs, and expectations. Ultimately, the senior leadership team (Performance Director, Chief Executive Officer, and Head of Culture) wished to use this strategy to create a high-performance athletic environment that fostered performance excellence by facilitating athlete thriving. As such, the organisation was open to conducting research as a means of engaging external experts to monitor the effectiveness of their change strategy. This presented the research team with an opportunity to study how an elite sport organisation attempted to create an environment for thriving as they built towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
Keywords
- Organisational sport psychology
- Performance
- Qualitative inquiry
- Thriving
- Well-being
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Applied Psychology