Introduction
Philanthropy and sports are increasing becoming entwined with each other. This is mainly because professional athletes enjoy augmented attention in the field. Off the field, most professionally renowned athletes engage in conducting charitable activities to enhance stakeholder aspirations and benefit the team, the athlete and the league (Tainsky & Babiak, 2011).
Andre Agassi Foundation for Education
Andre Agassi is one of the most renowned tennis players and his charitable trust, ‘Andre Agassi Foundation for Education’ strives to convert the public education by two different manners. The foundation was launched in the year 1994 (The Andre Agassi Foundation for Education, 2013). The first project is that of ‘Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy’ and it works for underprivileged children staying in Las Vegas in an effort to help them prepare for college and higher education. The next goal of this charitable foundation is to augment the levels of accountability and investment in public schools with the help of national and state advocacy (The Business Journals, 2011).
In his autobiography, Open, Andre Agassi describes that although he hates tennis, he was ably groomed to be one of the leading tennis champions by his demanding and moody father. His growing interest in philanthropy may have been the cause of his confused and unhappy association with the game, despite garnering achievements and fame through tennis. Despite not liking the game, Agassi is considered as one of the best tennis champions. This reflects the leadership qualities of integrity, grit, determination and extreme resolve. On the other hand, Andre Agassi likes philanthropy and hence he garners satisfaction and joys by conducting this noble activity. In his autobiography, Open, he further mentions that his lack of education has spurred him to launch his educational foundation which helps in funding the underprivileged children to pursue their college and higher education dreams.
Integrity and leadership
One of the most significant leadership elements is integrity. It is necessary for leadership actions and words to match. The current times is witnessing a lot of scandals and scams and in this context integrity plays supreme importance. Especially most renowned athletes are engaging in corporate social responsibility by means of integrating philanthropy to enhance their image (Agard, 2011). Some significant characteristics of such foundations are those of leadership vision, founder leadership, collective leadership, innovative leadership, management leadership and leadership communication. Andre Agassi’s education foundation helps in providing for underprivileged children. In this case, the leader is acting as a guide and mentor to effectively build the future generation.
Charitable foundation and image management
Most celebrities and athletes embark on providing corporate social responsibility by means of charity, project or foundations. Andre Agassi’s foundation is one which has helped in image management of the athlete. Other than this, a foundation also helps in benefits in tax planning other than optimum control. This implies that such charitable foundations are extremely beneficial for celebrities and athletes (Burke & Barrett, 2010).
As the foundation of Andre Agassi is foraying in its missions to provide excellent knowledge management to underprivileged children, the image of the tennis star as one of the activist is going through a transformation from that of a tennis legend to one of the less constructed image which is rather based on his actions off the field than his performance on the field (Fuqua, 2011).
Andre Agassi’s education foundation does help in promoting his image not only as an excellent athlete but also enhancing his image as a social crusader and activist. His induction to the ‘Hall of Fame’ has been mentioned in his educational foundation website. At the same time, he has used this website to write about his achievements throughout his career, personal letters written to important people who have considerably impacted his tennis career besides promoting his educational foundation by means of giving speeches in important areas and attracting people to join his cause.
Compatibility between integrity and image management
Leadership integrity and image management must be compatible. Most athletes have engaged in performing charitable activities and have become social activists who help in supporting a cause for the betterment of the society. Andre Agassi’s charitable foundation for education is one such foundation which shows leadership integrity and image management by the former tennis player turned social crusader. Agassi commands considerable respect, integrity, trust and character and his extensive campaigns and clear communication in supporting the cause helps in drawing a balance between leadership integrity and image management.
Integrity plays a vital component in managing a clean and excellent image of an athlete. The current occurrences of scams and scandals involving athletes have helped in the loss of trust in such athletes. Integrity helps an athlete to remain in the boardroom whereas image helps in just getting a lot of endorsements. At the same time, in case of a scandal, the otherwise positive image of a celebrity is lost. In this case, the clean and positive image of Andre Agassi helps in pursuing his cause for supporting the education for underprivileged children. Hence athletes must draw a balance between image and integrity by giving integrity the utmost priority.
References
Agard, K.A. (2011). Leadership in nonprofit organizations: A reference handbook, volume 1. SAGE Publications, United Kingdom.
Burke, M. & Barret, W.P. (2010). Celebrity charities: good for image, but what about good works?, Forbes. Retrieved June 24, 2013 from http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/30/oprah-jolie-pitt-letterman-philanthropy-personal-finance-celebrity-charities.html
Fuqua, J.V. (2011). Brad Pitt: celebrity activism and the Make it Right Foundation in post-Katrina New Orleans. Celebrity Studies, 2(2), 192 – 208.
Tainsky, S. & Babiak, K. (2011). Professional athletes and charitable foundations: an exploratory investigation. International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 9(3-4), 133 – 153.
The Business Journals. (2011). Andre Agassi Foundation for Education raises record for $26.1 million at 16th Grand Slam for children benefit concert. Retrieved June 22, 2013 from http://www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_releases/2011/10/30/LA96177
The Andre Agassi Foundation for Education. (2013). Timeline. Retrieved June 22, 2013 from http://www.agassifoundation.org/timeline/
