Basic Information

Full Name: Zach Collins

UC Email: collinzy@mail.uc.edu
College: College of Engineering and Applied Science
Major: Computer Engineering
Title of Project: Coaching ALHS Swim Team
Thematic Area (choose only one): Leadership
Expected Project Start Date: Saturday, December 13, 2014
Expected Project End Date: Saturday, January 10, 2014
Project Information
1. Provide a detailed abstract of your proposed honors experiential learning project.
Throughout all of high school, I was on the swim team. In my time on the swim team, we went
through a series of different coaches all of whom had incredibly different styles of leadership. There were
some styles of leadership that I absolutely hated, and there were some that I loved. However, I noticed
that different people responded differently to various leadership styles. I, for one, loved what is known as
Laissez-Faire leadership. That style of leadership involves giving team members a lot of freedom to work
at their own pace while providing any support or advice that is needed. I enjoyed the freedom that
coaches following the Laissez-Faire model of leadership gave me. It allowed me to improve at a pace I
was comfortable with. Furthermore, I felt less stressed under coaches who gave me freedom in my
practices. They made me feel better about swimming in general, and it was more fun to practice with
them. What I always thought was strange was that there were many people who vehemently opposed
Laissez-Faire leadership. They felt that autocratic leaders, or coaches who had a my way or the
highway kind of attitude, were more effective. They felt that they improved more under autocratically
leading coaches, because that leadership style involves demanding good, hard work all the time. I actually
had a few mild debates with teammates about which coach was the best, and of course the debate could
never be resolved because different people liked different styles better.
For my experiential learning project, I will examine how different people respond to the various
styles of leadership. I will randomly select groups of swimmers to lead with three styles of leadership:
Autocratic, Laissez-Faire, and their middle ground, Democratic. I will use these different leadership
styled to coach the groups of swimmers throughout their most difficult part of the season, winter break.
Gradually, I will adjust my leadership style for each swimmer to help him or her improve. I observe how
each person reacts to each style of leadership, and I will adjust my leadership accordingly. At the end of
winter break, I will distribute anonymous surveys to all the swimmers I coached regarding my leadership.
The surveys will inquire about whether they felt comfortable with my leadership and whether they
thought they improved under my leadership. I will spend 3 hours a day, 6 days per week, for 4 weeks
coaching and writing practices. Additionally, I will spend a half hour each day reflecting upon what
happened that day. This will amount to approximately 84 hours of work.
Clearly and thoroughly address how each of the following elements will be exhibited in your work:
2. Connection to Learning Outcomes within the Honors Thematic Area (identified above)
Has the ability to relate, communicate and work effectively with peers
Perhaps the most important quality of an effective coach is the ability to communicate with team
members. A coach needs to understand what a team member is looking to get out of being on the team. In
order to develop that sort of understanding, effective communication is necessary. Additionally, a coach
needs to always be able to work with the team members. Regardless of the leadership style the coach is
using, the coach is always a member of the team as well as a leader. A team will not perform well if the
coach does not understand what the team needs to do in order to succeed. Where the leadership styles

differ is in how the teams collective goals will be achieved, not in what the goals are. Finally, a coach
must be able to relate to the team. This is why most coaches are coaching a sport that they once played.
Understanding the plights of their team members helps the coaches develop effective practice routines
that are difficult and require hard work but are not overwhelming. In this project, I will develop my
abilities to relate, communicate, and work effectively with the members of the team. I will also observe
how the leadership style I use affects my ability to relate, communicate, and work effectively with the
team.
Possesses knowledge of various leadership theories and identifies with the characteristics of
leadership
In my project, I will compare the relative effectiveness of psychologist Kurt Lewins three styles of
leadership Autocratic, Democratic, and Laissez-Faire. I have done research on these styles of
leadership, and I will observe the effectiveness of each in my own experience with leadership while
coaching the swim team. I predict that there will be a continuum of response to leadership styles, with
better, more driven, and more talented swimmers improving more with more liberal (Laissez-Faire)
leadership, and newer, not-as-good swimmers experiencing more improvement with more strict
(Autocratic) leadership.

3. Connection to Goals and Academic Theories (include reference list, as appropriate)

A. Strong leadership skills are necessary in every aspect of life. As I am studying
engineering, it is extremely likely that at some point in my life, I will become a
manager of some sort in a company. As a manager, it will be very important for me
to understand how different people react to different styles of leadership. In a
corporation, I would have very specific goals for my team to achieve. Depending on
what type of team I am leading, my leadership style can vary greatly. More qualified
employees (perhaps researchers of some sort) might require more freedom in what
they do. They need to be able to exercise a lot of creative thinking and to be able to
work on their own schedules in order to produce the highest quality of work.
Contrarily, if the team I am managing is performing simpler, less advanced, and more
concrete work, they will require more strict leadership to simply be as productive as
possible. Knowing what style of leadership is appropriate in a given situation is
integral to the success of the team. The right can of leadership can allow productivity
and the company to flourish, while the wrong kind of leadership can demoralize a
team and prevent any sort of tangible progress.
B. In my experiential learning project, I will examine Kurt Lewins three different styles
of leadership. These are Authoritarian (Autocratic), Participative (Democratic), and
Delegative (Laissez-Faire).
Kendra Cherrys Leadership Styles offers some insight into the effectiveness of each
leadership style in different situations, and what they can result in.
J Justin Gustainiss Autocratic Leadership examines how autocratic leadership has
performed historically. It gives examples of uses of autocratic leadership by
important historical figures and explains when it is appropriate to use autocratic
leadership.
These three resources provide insight about how to use different leadership styles in
various situations. They give me more insight about the consequences of leading in
different ways. In this project, I will use what I have learned about the different styles

of leadership from these resources to effectively implement them while coaching the
swim team.
4. Initiative, Independence, and/or Creativity
The current coaches of Avon Lake High School Swim Team have their own leadership styles that
they have chosen and stuck with. They have settled in to leading in one way, and it is likely their
styles of leadership will never change. I will be different in that I am examining the effectiveness
of different types of leadership. I will be able to change how I lead the team based on what
response I get from the team, rather than just doing it the way that I like best. Additionally, I
know the people on the team better than the coaches do. I was on the team just a year ago, so I
will be able to understand the swimmers better than the coaches do. That sort of a personal
connection to the swimmers will help me in my coaching of the team. Having a better mutual
understanding with the swimmers will make it easier for me to help them achieve their goals
while exercising the style of leadership that has been chosen for them.

5. Reflection
At the end of each day of coaching, I will write in a journal about the events of that day. Some
questions I will answer each day are:
What went well, and why?
What did not go well, and why?
How has each leadership style affected the behavior of the team members?
How has each leadership style affected the effort level of the team members?
Are people responding better to a certain style of leadership?
What will I do differently tomorrow?
Additionally, at the end of the project, I will answer these questions:
Was there a style of leadership that people responded to best?
Was there a style of leadership that produced the best results?
Was there some relationship between swimmer skill and what leadership style should be
used?
Was there some relationship between swimmer skill and how tolerant the swimmer is of
different leadership styles?
What style did I feel most comfortable and confident with?

6. Dissemination
At the end of the project, I will compile the observations I made and the feedback I got into an
essay, and I will present it to the coaches of the swim team. I will explain to them the research
that I have done on leadership styles, I will explain my thoughts on the leadership styles, and I
will encourage them to make their own observations about the effectiveness of their leadership
styles on the team. Additionally, I will upload some of my survey responses and reflections from
my journal to my Honors Portfolio along with the essay I compiled. This can serve as a reference
for anybody who finds him or herself in a situation that involves leading a team of any sort.

7. Project Advisor(s)

Jim Goodman
Teacher, Avon Lake High School / Former Swimmer and Swim Coach
jim.goodman@avonlakecityschools.org

Budget (if applicable)

No funding is necessary for this project.