A new model of volunteer leadership: lessons from a local festival

Abstract

This article delivers insights into the leadership of volunteers using a local music festival as a case study. Leadership traits and styles have been discussed in the literature in relation to festivals and events, with authors particularly highlighting servant leadership and transformational leadership styles within this context. The traits of the heroic leader and the entrepreneurial leader, as well as the transactional leadership style and the creativity broker, also discovered within the events literature, are also used here to guide the analysis of the data. Semi-structured interviews with the festival director and festival volunteers were conducted and analysed. An overview of the data is reported in four clusters of leadership characteristics: inspiring, sharing, caring and delivering. The findings are then matched against the various leadership theories and a new volunteer leadership model, termed 'layered leadership', is developed.2

Event Leadership Matters: Why a Shared Approach Might Be the Answer to Improved Working Practices in Events

“…Another key area in which shared leadership remains unresearched is in the context of live event delivery, when the pressure to provide safe events and be accountable for decisions creates significant leadership pressures. This presents a particularly interesting setting to explore how the inherent strength of shared leadership -allowing those with the right knowledge and skills to have ownership over decision making -might also be an inherent risk, given the delegation of authority, the implied lack of accountability in non-formal leadership (Zhu et al, 2018) and the sector's heavy reliance on volunteers (Wilks, 2015). Examining how, or even if, shared leadership would work during the pressures of live event delivery would therefore bring new and welcome insights into the development of shared leadership theory within events.…”