Running head: CHARACTERISTICS OF SPORT AGENTS 1
CHARACTERISTICS OF SPORT AGENTS 7
Attributes Sport Agents Should Poses
Name
Institution
Attributes Sport Agents should Poses
Introduction
In the contemporary society, leadership in the sports industry is conceived as one of the indispensable elements of success which sport agents have been called to embrace. The growing importance of leadership in the sports fraternity tends to have coincided with a change in paradigm that considers agents are the critical determinants of their clients’ productivity. In this model, the stakeholders and shareholders expect sport agents to be aware of all the constraints of success, and deploy the skills and knowledge to meet the goals, no matter the intervening circumstances. This way of thinking contrasts with the traditional paradigm that was less radical in the sense that it considered sport agents could be excused for certain forms of poor performance because success was mediated by a collection of both external that were beyond their leadership intervention. Therefore, in contrast with the traditional paradigm, the new paradigm expects exemplary sports agents to be accountable and bear responsibility for all forms of performance, no matter the causes (Tollison, 2008).
While the point of criticality of sport agents has been well accepted, the scenario has only served a better purpose on question just what exemplary qualities sports agents should poses. To certain extent, the questions have been exacerbated emerging sports industry challenges, which have warranted the need to rethink the conventional sports agents’ practices. For instance, the institutional operation environment is marred with a myriad of uncertainties, such as the shrinking resources, social transformation, technological revolution, globalization, and growing competition, which have all called for need for exemplary sports agents. For the current players in practice, such a scenario creates the allowance to question of what should be traits of good sports agents. The main goal of this paper is to discuss what sport agent leadership and the requirements of exemplary leadership. In the end, as it will be seen, servant leadership stands out as a strong platform for conceptualizing exemplary leadership in the sports industry (Drayer, Shapiro & Lee, 2012). To find the answers to the mentioned questions, a brief I-search was conducted. The keywords “characteristics of sport agents” were entered into Google Engine, which was chosen because it is not only popular but also has the tendency of being inclusive to a broad array of information published from diverse backgrounds. The last search process presented various sources of information, including blogs, periodicals, magazines, newspapers, and books. However, after subjecting the information to the inclusion criterion, only 5 articles were considered for the review. To be able to meet the objective, the rest of the paper is organized as follows. First, the literature reviews on sports agents’ leadership are first explored. Subsequently, characteristics of sports agents are explored, leading to the conclusion.
Literature review
Several included sources highlighted that the demand for agents of integrity to persist into the future (Horn, 2015). A strong emphasis has been directed towards the need for ethical practices, associating various institutional scandals that have been experienced in the sports industry to poor culture. Drayer, Shapiro and Lee (2012) discuss that central to the account of unethical behaviors within sports institutions is poor governance. This view is held by the contemporary paradigm, which asserts that the sports agents are entrusted with the ability to address all forms of challenges that face clients, regardless of whether they are internal or external. Therefore, agents are responsible for all situations.
Indeed, Tollison (2008) also discusses that sport agents are required to be engaged in communicating the qualities of morality and trustworthiness. They are required to fulfill these responsibilities to cultivate high moral values. The author notes that the commitment to morality supports the institutional success since it creates the allowance for agents to serve as a role model whom the subjects can trust, exhibiting accountability, and transparency (Lubin, 2015). Lubin (2015) asserts that exemplary agents will be required to nurture the skills of imparting the sense of purpose to clients through collaborative practices. This step is critical because it would align the clients with team missions. The moral purpose motivates and provides a value-driven reason for moving forward based on ethical measures that are designed to guide the members. Consequently, this step empowers every member to become an active agent of change (Tollison, 2008). Horn (2015) suggests that leaders will be needed to continue communicating the desired industry values through voicing the need for change, bridging the gaps in communication, encouraging shared leadership, and seeking to develop leadership capacity within the among clients (Horn, 2015). Besides, sports agents leaders will need to have strategic planning skills.
Holistic leadership is also mentioned several times (Drayer, Shapiro & Lee, 2012). For instance, discusses that the role of agents is constrained by different factors that need to be considered when making decisions. This process includes considering the external and internal factors. Tollison (2008) further observes that, logically, agents will be needed to play the managerial roles because of their twin functions as leaders and administrators. Research has demonstrated that the agents have the proclivity towards managerial roles, and that a majority of them perceive their role in the industry setting as management-oriented. Sports agents will need to have competencies in the following areas: problem solving, resource management, management, and administration. Problem-solving is an essential competence required for a client’s agent to be able to decide effectively and includes knowing and identifying a problem and looking for a solution. Agents not only promote a vision but also share it with the other related stakeholders so that the entire team can devise a shared vision. Collaboration with shareholders and communities is an essential component of this goal (Horn, 2015).
What qualities should Good sport agents have?
The qualities of agents are usually oriented towards enhancing the relationships between the clients, and the ability to create a vision. Indeed, a survey of literature on the subject highlights different qualities of good leadership that fortify these elements. These qualities include communication, understanding and trust, reputation as role models, integrity, transparency, empowerment, and investment oriented.
Communication
Since part of the sports agents is inducing their clients to work towards a common goal, communication is one of the crucial qualities of exemplary leaders. Effective communication is needed for the clients to understand their underlying goals. Similarly, communication is also imperative for the sport agents to understand the concerns and the needs of their clients and be able to communicate vision. In addition, effective communication is necessary for establishment of good working relations. Besides, agents should have the ability to network with other people in the industry. Sport agents should be aware of the current trends and information that may alter their decisions and plans of their clients. For example, Pelka has been notable for his long service as the agent for Kobe Bryant (Horn, 2015).
Understanding and trust
According to Tollison (2008), being a sports agent is a two-way process — the agents must understand the needs of the clients, and the clients must reciprocate by understanding their agents. Drayer, Shapiro and Lee (2012) discuss tolerance as the keyword for conceptualizing understanding that the sports agents need to have. For agents to be seen to be understanding, they need to listen to the different concerns that their clients might have and strive to achieve a consensus, which may often lead to certain levels of tolerable compromise.
Reputation as Role Models
Horn (2015) discusses the importance of having an agent with good reputation in the industry. Reputation can have both positive and negative effects on their clients. For instance, good reputation can be an incentive to attract sponsorships for the client. Part of the process of getting the clients work towards a common goal is by serving as an example. The corresponding theoretical assumptions are that followers trust the actions of their agents, and they would even strive to emulate them. Such an observation obligates the agents to be good role models to continue commanding integrity.
Integrity and Transparency
Integrity has been widely discussed as an indispensable quality of good agents. Horn (2015) defines integrity as the ability to exhibit behaviors and decisions of good moral standards. Sports agents are expected to be ambassadors of morality, ethics, and values of sports’ industry and the surrounding community at large. This trait is also an expectation that the clients hold for their leaders. Therefore, the lack of integrity would disorient the clients. Nevertheless, the opportunity to attract sponsorship deals has been a goal every sportsman long for. Because most sports careers are short, athletes are motivated to make the most of his time. For example, NFL star Victor Cruz has been well aware of the importance of sponsorship that he signed with IMG Talent to boost his off field commercial endeavors. Agents need to be open and transparent in their actions. It is affirmed that lack of transparency has the tendency of making clients to start raising eyebrows and question the ability of leadership to deliver.
Empowerment and Investment oriented
Agents are supposed to be knowledgeable on investment, business management, financial risk analysis, which will enable them to negotiate long-term contract decisions. As Drayer, Shapiro and Lee (2012) note that, the ability to realize the intended common goal is not only an item that matters for sport agents, but also empowerment. Apart from fulfilling the common goal, exemplary agents strive to ensure they empower their clients, too. This empowerment is outright because it makes them better persons and increases their capacity to serve the team roles. Moreover, agents should be knowledgeable and informed on their market. For example, Fernando Cuza has been widely recognized for his dedication to his role as a sports agent. He has been popular in the Latina baseball industry for his efforts in dedicating his time to be well versed with the baseball industry.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the purpose of this paper has been exploring the characteristics of sport agents and leadership in the sports industry with the aim of deducing essential strategies and ways of increasing the capacity for keeping abreast the emerging challenges. Some of the notable attributes of good sport agents include communication, understanding and trust, reputation as role models, integrity, transparency, empowerment, and investment oriented. However, it is worth noting that the sports industry has faces are crucial challenge in sensitizing sports agents and educating them about ethical values since the industry has been growing at a fast pace.
References
Drayer, J, Shapiro S L., and Lee S. (2012). Dynamic ticket pricing in sport: an agenda for research and practice. Sport Marketing Quarterly 21.3: 184+
Horn T. (2015). Qualities Your Sports Agent Must Have. February 20, 2015. Web. Retrieved on December 12 2015 from http://www.theplayerstribune.com/hire-sports-agent-what-to-look-for/
Lubin G. (2015) .The 12 best sports agents in the world. October 20, 2012. Web. Retrieved on December 12, 2015 from http://deadspin.com/5701614/the-12-best-sports-agents-in-the-world
Tollison, R (2008). Sportometrics. In David R. Henderson (ed.). Concise Encyclopedia of Economics (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Library of Economics and Liberty.Print
