At Kolze Sports Leadership our mission is to improve teams by improving the leaders within teams–that can mean players themselves, coaches, managerial staff, families, and even fans. The social science definition of a “leader” that we endorse is simply “someone who influences other people in pursuit of shared goals”. We believe that leaders make sports teams more successful through influence, and that sports can be essential in developing leadership skills in young people that can transfer to other contexts.
Research shows that while there are certain inborn traits that can predispose people to being better or worse leaders, everyone can develop their leadership skills and learn to work more effectively with their own individual skillsets to become better leaders. Our passion is to help individuals think of themselves as leaders and learn to maximize their impact. Often times this means starting by building self-awareness of one’s own knowledge, skills, abilities, values, interests, and needs.
Team dynamics further complicate leadership. In order to lead, there is an inherent need for a follower. The social aspect of leadership adds complexity above and beyond one’s own strengths and weaknesses. Thus, in order to maximize positive impact within teams, we must consider communication systems, conflict and cohesion, social networks, perceptions of fairness, and more. At Kolze Sports Leadership, we approach team-level characteristics and issues from the I/O Psychology and Social Psychology perspectives.
Kolze Sports Leadership was founded by MaryJo (MJ) Kolze. MJ knows the game of volleyball and elite competition first-hand. Her experience helps her meet athletes and coaches where they are, while tailoring the science in digestible ways. The goal is not to hide the methods behind a black box of mystery, but to help others come to understand what the science says and why it works.
MJ played NCAA Division 1 volleyball at Missouri State University. During her 5 seasons on the team, MJ helped the team to 5 conference tournament appearances and 2 NCAA tournament appearances. MJ was chosen to represent her team to the Student Athlete Advisory Committee each season she was on the team, and served two years as the Vice President of MSU’s SAAC chapter.
MJ started coaching club volleyball in the Heart of America Region while still a student at Missouri State. Later, MJ had the honor of beginning the volleyball program and serving as the very first Head Volleyball Coach at Lightridge High School in Northern Virginia, where she was named AVCA Thirty Under 30 HS in 2020. After 2 seasons with Lightridge, MJ moved on to an Assistant Coach and later Technical Coordinator position with the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Team at George Mason University.
MJ holds a Master’s degree in Industrial / Organizational Psychology from George Mason University, with a specialty in leadership and leader development. She has published multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in the field, including her paper Leader individual differences, situational parameters, and leadership outcomes: A comprehensive review and integration, written with Dr. Steve Zaccaro, Dr. Jen Green, and Dr. Sam Dubrow, which has been cited over 50 times.
