TRANSFORMATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF WOMEN EXECUTIVES IN MAJOR LEAGUE SPORTS

The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of two women who achieved executive level positions in the league offices in Major League Sports to determine what types of behaviors were associated with their leadership success.  Five themes emerged: passion for sports; competitive spirit; high achiever, energized personality; business savvy for generating revenue; importance of family values, work ethic, and community; and uncompromised values. As executive women in the male-dominated industry of Major League Sports, both effectively combined the characteristics of warmth and caring generally associated with female leaders with those more representative of their male colleagues such as ambition, competitiveness, and task – oriented (Bass, 1998).  The findings supported Burpitt’s (2006) theory on organizations with leaders exhibiting both transformational and transactional leadership behaviors succeeded in their positions for their strong financial performance.