Examining collective board leadership and collaborative sport governance

Rationale/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how a board of a National Sport Organisation perceives collective board leadership in order to govern collaboratively in a federated sport network of state/regional sport organisations. Design/Methods: A sample of three boards from the golf network in Australia was used to investigate the presence of collective board leadership and collaborative governance. Sixteen interviews were conducted with directors from Golf Australia, Golf Victoria and Golf South Australia to explore their perceptions of leadership practice by boards across the golf network. Findings: Respondents offered a view of leadership that seemed to align with a leader-centric perspective, as distinguished from collective leadership. This finding suggests that the concept of collective board leadership may be too new and does not yet resonate with directors in this study. Practical Implications: Provides a focus on the place of leadership in the study and practice of governance. Research Contribution: This paper extends knowledge by examining perceptions of how boards view collective leadership when seeking to govern collaboratively. Results from this study provide further insights building on the extant literature to the importance of a collaborative approach to governance, which in effect, shaped the leadership style of a board.