Exploring How Leadership Style at Athlete and Management Levels Influences the Culture of High-Performance Rowing in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This project relates to professional practice by offering insights into the real-world leadership dynamics within a developing high-performance sport system. Grounded in the operations of the Saudi Rowing Federation, it addresses the growing need for evidence-informed strategies to support leadership development in emerging sport environments. As Saudi Arabia continues to invest in high-performance pathways as part of Vision 2030, understanding how leadership functions at both management and athlete levels is crucial for shaping a cohesive team culture, enhancing communication, and sustaining high-performance standards.

This study has three aims: to (i) demonstrate how the Performance Director and national coaches contribute to shaping high-performance culture in the Saudi Rowing Federation; (ii) highlight the role of athlete leaders in driving team values, communication, and motivation and (iii) explore the interaction between formal and informal leadership within a high-performance team context. :Background Saudi Arabia’s high-performance rowing system is undergoing rapid development as part of the country’s broader Vision 2030 strategy (Saudi Vision 2030, n.d.). Since its establishment in 2019, the Saudi Rowing Federation has made significant progress, including its Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games, a major milestone that marks the nation’s emergence on the global rowing stage. The federation’s vision, “Inspiring a culture of excellence through rowing,” has driven investments in infrastructure, elite coaching, and athlete development to build a sustainable high-performance environment (Saudi Rowing Federation, n.d.). Leadership plays a vital role in shaping not only organizational structures but also values, cultural norms, behaviours, and performance standards. This study draws on three leadership theories: Transformational Leadership (Bass & Riggio, 2006), which emphasizes vision and inspiration; Transactional Leadership, which focuses on structured expectations and rewards (Bass, 1990); and Social Identity Leadership (van Knippenberg & Hogg, 2003), which emphasizes shared group identity and cohesion. These frameworks inform both the analytical approach and methodological design of the study. By integrating these theoretical perspectives with original qualitative data from the Saudi Rowing Federation, the study aims to gain a deeper understanding of how leadership styles impact the emerging high-performance culture in a non-traditional rowing nation. : Design and Implementation The study adopts a qualitative research design utilising semi-structured interviews as the data collection method and thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019) to analyse data. This qualitative approach is ideal for gathering in-depth, context-specific data and gaining insight into the lived experiences, social dynamics, and perceptions within a developing high-performance sport system. The leadership theories informed multiple stages of the research design, including participant selection (identifying individuals in formal and informal leadership roles), generating questions, and serving as an analytical framework to interpret the findings. The sample comprised of 10 to 15 purposefully selected individuals affiliated with the Saudi Rowing Federation. This selection aimed to generate contextually rich and practice-oriented data to support grounded understanding and analysis. Participants included management and performance directors, national team coaches, and high-performance athletes with leadership responsibilities. : Outputs/Outcomes, Reflections, and Future Development The study identified patterns in the participants' narratives, focusing on leadership, team culture, and motivation. This approach allows for an exploration of the social, cultural, and psychological factors that influence Saudi high-performance rowing. The outcomes included (i) a deeper understanding of how various leadership styles contribute to fostering a cohesive, high-performance culture in a non-traditional rowing nation, (ii) practical recommendations for sports federations in similar contexts that seek to enhance leadership development at both management and athlete levels and (iii) reflections on how formal and informal leadership interact to foster team identity, communication, and resilience. The findings also informs future leadership training, athlete development structures, and succession planning policies in emerging high-performance contexts across the Gulf region. Further research could compare leadership models across various sports or use long-term studies to track the evolution of leadership over Olympic cycles.