Transformational Leadership of Change: Success through Valuing Relationships in a Football Championship Subdivision Athletic Department

Within intercollegiate athletics, change is quite prevalent. Many scholars have called for an examination of how context, leadership, and process interact to influence change and employee responses to change. However, within the intercollegiate athletics environment, there has been little empirical investigation of these constructs. The purpose of the current case study of a single NCAA Football Championship Subdivision athletic department, then, was to investigate the influence of change agent leadership style, organizational culture and process on employee and student-athlete responses to change. Results demonstrated that the transformational leadership style of the athletic director, a relational organizational culture, strong communication, and participation in the process mitigated resistance over time. The conclusion frames the findings in the broader intercollegiate context and provides suggestions for future research.