Leadership competencies: qualitative insight into non-profit sport organisations

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the competencies of leadership used and the reasons behind their use in an attempt to understand the nature of leadership competencies in non-profit sports organisations, and guide the experts to focus on specific competencies for general purposes. Design/methodology/approach - The current study adopts a qualitative method to achieve the aim of the study. Findings - The results revealed that four groups of competencies, namely, understanding the whole, communication, general management relation, and change tend to be specific competencies for general purposes in different leadership positions. The findings demonstrate the value of the approach in discoveringinsights that would not have emerged from more commonly utilised methodologies. Practical implications - Overall, these findings suggest that individuals, in different sport leadership positions, need four groups of competencies to overcome internal and external challenges effectively. Implications of this research may exist in business and other domains. Specifically, several competency frameworks are suggested in business for leaders to meet their internal and external challenges. Originality/value - This research represents the first attempt to understand and explore the nature of leadership competencies in non-profit sports organisations in the Middle East.