Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Walter McCollum

Abstract

Ineffective leadership that results from personality defects, ineffective core executive functions, and emotional decision making can lead to destructive actions and executive failures that affect organizational effectiveness. The purpose of this correlational study was to determine if athletic development personality factors correlate with decision making at the executive leadership level. The research questions focused on determining if there was a relationship between athletic development personality factors and decision making. Social exchange theory, social representations theory, and leadership theories comprised the theoretical framework. Participants included 124 executive decision-makers from the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, India, and Singapore who completed an online survey measuring self-assessed athletic development personality factors. The data analysis strategy using multiple regression showed that, while each variable was a positive significant predictor of personality factors, the regression approach eliminated redundant predictors from the 5 variable model. The resulting 3 variable model was significant; focus, ethicalness, and leadership found decision making scores to be higher for respondents with highest scores for focus personality (β = .43, p = .001) and ethicalness personality (β = .28, p = .001) and leadership personality (β = .21, p = .001) significantly contributed to the model. Organizational leaders might use the findings of this study on these key personality factors to enhance their knowledge and increase the relationship paths for positive social change by informing leadership development programs and executive training through educational strategies and best practices.

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