In March, I announced a study I am engaged in with colleagues Dene Williamson and Kaliym Islam about how participation in (and absence from) activities like pickleball can influence leadership skills and competencies. In that article, I invited readers to take a brief survey, and I sincerely thank all those who completed and submitted that survey.
I’m excited to announce that the article I co-wrote with my colleagues, summarizing the findings of that study, entitled “Enhancing Leadership Development through Serious Leisure: Insights from Pickleball”, has been published in the April 2024 International Journal of Social Science and Business (IJSSB).
In this article, we discuss our research and the findings from the study. Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:
“The study delves into how the principles of serious leisure—perseverance, skill development, personal effort, community engagement, and pursuing excellence—mirror and enhance key leadership competencies, including resilience, strategic thinking, teamwork, ethical standards, and emotional intelligence. Through a detailed exploration of pickleball, a sport that embodies the essence of serious leisure, this article illustrates how participation in such activities can contribute significantly to the holistic development of leaders…”
In the article, we discuss practical implications of how integrating serious leisure activities like pickleball into leadership training programs may provide a dynamic approach to developing leaders.
Sampling of Comments
Here is a sampling of participant comments from the survey:
Helps with communication and being agreeable with different playing styles and learning styles.
I work with clients and don’t have employees. However, playing pickleball with a diverse group of people tends to be like working with a variety of personalities, preferences, styles, etc., and you quickly learn to adapt to each new player as you would to each new client.
Exhibiting patience, control and persistence while playing pickleball has also contributed to my leadership skills.
It teaches you to work collaboratively.
Great opportunity to collaborate with a teammate; it also allows me to work on my communication skills.