Executive Recruitment in Sport

In the 21st century professional sports teams are engaged in a fiercely competitive race for success both ‘on’ and ‘off’ the field of play. Professional sports team owners operate within a dynamic and disrupted global sporting ecosystem where every club is in search of competitive advantage. The challenge for the custodians of club success is to constantly review, check and challenge how best to support, nurture and challenge staff and players to optimize their performance. Success on the field of play has enormous implications for the commercial welfare of any club.

In a global and increasingly disrupted marketplace, business owners and their shareholders are forced to explore how they create, nurture, and ultimately maintain their competitive advantage. The search for individuals who can deliver organizational ‘success’ and its various component performance indicators are crucial for the longevity of any business. In elite sport, the search for talent is now a global activity with professional sports team owners using a variety of ‘traditional’ and innovative tools and techniques to identify their c-suite personnel.

In Executive Recruitment in Sport: Insights from the Boardroom, global thought-leader Ian Lawrence utilizes interviews with top-level executive recruiters to contextualize the plethora of peer reviewed and industry insight. The result is a nuanced appreciation and understanding of the major roles, responsibilities and challenges faced by senior staff. This vital work will appeal to those individuals responsible for recruitment and appointment of elite staff and the research conclusions will have far-reaching implications for analysis of ‘C-Suite’ recruitment.

Ian Lawrence is the Associate Dean for Sports Business and Management at the University Campus of Football Business (UCFB), UK, and the former course leader of the MSc Sports Directorship.