ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how leadership is inextricably bound up with group processes of this form and how successful and enduring leadership involves developing, managing, and advancing a sense of shared identity within a given group or team. It aims to use a case study from the field of elite soccer to show how the social identity approach can be applied to develop on- and off-field leadership. The social identity approach to leadership argues that the effectiveness of leaders hinges on their capacity to cultivate a shared sense of “we” and “us” in their teams—in others words, their capacity to demonstrate identity leadership. In exercise contexts, follower perceptions of social identity leadership has been found to positively relate to group identification, which in turn is associated with greater attendance at training/classes. The growing application of the social identity approach to leadership in sport and exercise has been coupled with developments in the field of athlete leadership.
