The Qualities of an Exemplary Coach: A Case Study of Coach Clare Drake.

摘要

This case study explores the coaching behavior of Clare Drake, an exemplary university hockey coach. The research identified qualities contributing to his influence. Data included written documentation; three informal conversational style interviews and one semi-structured interview with the case; as well as semi-structured interviews with eight past players, captains and/or coaches representing three distinct eras of coaching at the University of Alberta (1959-68, 1969-78, 1979-89). Transformational leadership theory (Bass, 1985) was used to frame the inquiry. It may be that Clare Drake's humility was the linchpin of the remaining four qualities and therefore an important ingredient contributing to the success and influence that he had on his players, teams and his sport. This research supports extant literature in the area of transformational leadership in sport as well as more recent findings linking humility to effective leadership behavior (Collins, 2001; Morris et al., 2005; Owens & Hekman, 2012).