Leadership micro-behaviors and performance stability under competitive pressure: a stepped-wedge field study in professional football

Leadership in elite sport is often assumed to directly enhance performance outcomes, yet empirical evidence remains inconsistent, particularly under conditions of high competitive variability. The present study examined whether a brief, behavior-focused PERMA-based leadership intervention was associated with changes in psychological team resources and performance stability in competitive football teams. Using a stepped-wedge field design, 10 teams were observed across up to 24 competitive weeks, combining longitudinal team-level panel data with intensive daily diary assessments (1,567 player-day observations). Fixed-effects and event-study models were used to estimate within-team changes following intervention onset. Perceived leadership micro-behaviors increased following intervention onset, alongside higher levels of psychological safety and collective efficacy. At the performance level, no consistent changes in match points were observed, whereas performance instability decreased, reflecting lower week-to-week fluctuation across matches. Additional robustness analyses were consistent with the interpretation that observed patterns were more closely aligned with reduced performance variability than with systematic changes in average performance levels. Moderation analyses suggested that these associations were attenuated under conditions of elevated competitive pressure. Daily diary results provided converging evidence for changes in leadership perception and psychological safety, but not for load-dependent experiential states such as flow or sleep. These findings suggest that leadership micro-behaviors may be associated with context-sensitive patterns of team functioning, particularly in relation to performance stability rather than immediate competitive success. By distinguishing between performance stability and outcome performance, the present study contributes to a more differentiated understanding of leadership in elite sport and highlights the potential relevance of behavior-focused interventions in applied competitive settings.