INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP AND REWARDS SYSTEM ON TEAM PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA PREMIER LEAGUE (NPL)

Leadership and rewards are two key management constructs that plays significant roles in organization’s effectiveness. Thus, this study investigated the impact of these two management variables on team performance in Nigerian Premier League (NPL). A total of 75 respondents comprising of 60 players and 15 coaches from 3 NPL teams were selected through a stratified random sampling technique and used in the study. The Club Structure-Performance Questionnaire (CSPQ) was the instrument used for data collection (r=0.88). A total of seventy five copies of the questionnaire were administered on selected respondents (Players=60; Coaches=15) and the data collected were analyzed using inferential statistics of t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) at alpha < 0.05.The findings revealed that transformation leadership (mean=3.22) and direct financial reward (mean=3.44) recorded higher influences on team performance as compared with other variables in each group. In addition, a stronger correlation was recorded between rewards and performance as compared with leadership.