ABSTRACT
This chapter examines strategic sport leadership and sport governance. While certainly interrelated, leadership within sport management is arguably a much broader concept than governance. In sport organizations, governance usually carries with it formal responsibilities including legal obligations. Meanwhile, in addition to formal positions of responsibility, leadership can occur informally throughout all layers of a sport organization or system of sport organizations (international, national, regional, local). Leadership can also occur in moments or “acts of leadership,” depending on the lens through which leadership is viewed. This chapter explores the multiple ways in which leadership can be viewed and how these intersect with the process of strategic management in sport organizations. A multifaceted view of sport governance is presented, making the distinction between governance of a sport organization (role of the board) and governance that occurs among sport organizations (systemic governance). As with leadership, concepts of strategic sport management are woven throughout our discussion of sport governance as we examine the board’s strategic role as well as the strategic concerns of governance across multiple organizations.
