SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Servant Leadership

Abstract

Over 100 research articles on servant leadership have been published in the past half a decade. However, lack of clarity and coherence on the subject matter has resulted in the development of its theory. This detailed, integrative research paper offers a conceptual clarity of servant leadership through critical leadership techniques and provides a completely new servant leadership definition. The paper evaluates servant leadership measures based on their validation and scale construction rigor. It also maps servant leaderships nomological and theoretical network based on outcomes, antecedents, mediators, and moderators. Finally, the research paper also presents study limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research. The paper generally gives a holistic picture of servant leadership and the direction for future research.

Introduction

Evolutionary leadership biology indicates that humans evolve, evolution occurring over a long period, and most needs of the hunter-gather within people remain unfulfilled. Leaders in hunter-gather tribes were known to their tribesmen intimately; hence there was no difference between the public and private self (or the life) of a leader. Today, large bureaucratic companies with mobile employees dispersed worldwide have embedded the small, family-like, hunter-gatherer tribes into the organizations (Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2010). However, the modern organization has failed to provide employees with a sense of tribal belonging that the human mind needs. Servant leadership has come in to fill this eminent gap. It gives followers a sense of social identity and creates kinship-like teams similar to those found in the societies of hunter-gatherers. Team members help and develop the capacity of each other.

Servant leadership can deliver leadership that can solve most modern workplace challenges while providing humans with a hunter-gatherer sense of belonging. This explains why Southwest Airlines and Starbucks continue to grow, calling for servant leadership research. Servant leadership is based on a holistic approach that engages the ethical, relational, spiritual, emotional, and other dimensions of leadership followers (Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2010). The leadership approach empowers followers to grow to their maximum potential. Firstly, the leadership approach allows followers to grow based on their leaders ethical and altruistic orientations.

Servant leadership prioritizes followers growth and general well-being, making them more effective and engaged in their specific work (Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2010). As organizations stewards, servant leaders are determined to grow the finances and resources of the company entrusted to them. Therefore, servant leaders emphasize their followers personal development without overlooking organizational performance expectations. Servant leadership, unlike leadership approaches based on performance, focuses on long-term sustainable performance. The leadership approaches based on performance promote organizational growth and profit at the expense of the people.

Servant leadership research is grouped into three stages: conceptual development, measurement phase, and analysis of servant leadership against outcomes (Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2010). The third phase, the model development stage, involves complex research designs that do not just look into essential servant leadership relationships with outcomes but also cover mediating mechanisms, antecedents, and boundary circumstances around this type of leadership. Since the pioneering Graham (1991) foundation research on servant leadership theory development, research has theoretically, and empirically differentiated servant leadership from other leadership approaches. Lack of clarity and coherence in the servant leadership subject despite a surging academic interest also informs the purpose of this research.

Research on servant leadership has been done across multiple disciplines, including top-tier management, education, nursing, youth, tourism, public, and not-for-profit sectors, and appeared in respective journals. Decades of research across multiple disciplines have advanced the servant leadership theory, but the fragmented studies are not integrated (Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2010). The existing measures of servant leadership are yet to be assessed. This research paper evaluates…

Running Head: SERVANT LEADERSHIP

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Servant Leadership

Abstract

Over 100 research articles on servant leadership have been published in the past half a decade. However, lack of clarity and coherence on the subject matter has resulted in the development of its theory. This detailed, integrative research paper offers a conceptual clarity of servant leadership through critical leadership techniques and provides a completely new servant leadership definition. The paper evaluates servant leadership measures based on their validation and scale construction rigor. It also maps servant leaderships nomological and theoretical network based on outcomes, antecedents, mediators, and moderators. Finally, the research paper also presents study limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research. The paper generally gives a holistic picture of servant leadership and the direction for future research.

Introduction

Evolutionary leadership biology indicates that humns evolve, evolution occurring over a long period, and most needs of the hunter-gather within people remain unfulfilled. Leaders in hunter-gather tribes were known to their tribesmen intimately; hence there was no difference between the public and private self (or the life) of a leader. Today, large bureaucratic companies with mobile employees dispersed worldwide have embedded the small, family-like, hunter-gatherer tribes into the organizations (Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2010). However, the modern organization has failed to provide employees with a sense of tribal belonging that the human mind needs. Servant leadership has come in to fill this eminent gap. It gives followers a sense of social identity and creates kinship-like teams similar to those found in the societies of hunter-gatherers. Team members help and develop the capacity of each other.

Servant leadership can deliver leadership that can solve most modern workplace challenges while providing humans with a hunter-gatherer sense of belonging. This explains why Southwest Airlines and Starbucks continue to grow, calling for servant leadership research. Servant leadership is based on a holistic approach…

Running Head: SERVANT LEADERSHIP

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Servant Leadership

Abstract

Over 100 research articles on servant leadership have been published in the past half a decade. However, lack of clarity and coherence on the subject matter has resulted in the development of its theory. This detailed, integrative research paper offers a conceptual clarity of servant leadership through critical leadership techniques and provides a completely new servant leadership definition. The paper evaluates servant leadership measures based on their validation and scale construction rigor. It also maps servant leaderships nomological and theoretical network based on outcomes, antecedents, mediators, and moderators. Finally, the research paper also presents study limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research. The paper generally gives a holistic picture of servant leadership and the direction for future research.

Introduction

Evolutionary leadership biology indicates that humans evolve, evolution occurring over a long period, and most needs of the hunter-gather within people remain unfulfilled. Leaders in hunter-gather tribes were known to their tribesmen intimately; hence there was no difference between the public and private self (or the life) of a leader. Today, large bureaucratic companies with mobile employees dispersed worldwide have embedded the small, family-like, hunter-gatherer tribes into the organizations (Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2010). However, the modern organization has failed to provide employees with a sense of tribal belonging that the human mind needs. Servant leadership has come in to fill this eminent gap. It gives followers a sense of social identity and creates kinship-like teams similar to those found in the societies of hunter-gatherers. Team members help and develop the capacity of each other.

Servant leadership can deliver leadership that can solve most modern workplace challenges while providing humans with a hunter-gatherer sense of belonging. This explains why Southwest Airlines and Starbucks continue to grow, calling for servant leadership research. Servant leadership is based on a holistic approach that engages the ethical, relational, spiritual, emotional, and other dimensions of leadership followers (Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2010). The leadership approach empowers followers to grow to their maximum potential. Firstly, the leadership approach allows followers to grow based on their leaders ethical and altruistic orientations.

Servant leadership prioritizes followers growth and general well-being, making them more effective and engaged in their specific work (Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2010). As organizations stewards, servant leaders are determined to grow the finances and resources of the company entrusted to them. Therefore, servant leaders emphasize their followers personal development without overlooking organizational performance expectations. Servant leadership, unlike leadership approaches based on performance, focuses on long-term sustainable performance. The leadership approaches based on performance promote organizational growth and profit at the expense of the people.

Servant leadership research is grouped into three stages: conceptual development, measurement phase, and analysis of servant leadership against outcomes (Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2010). The third phase, the model development stage, involves complex research designs that do not just look into essential servant leadership relatio.......ound this type of leadership. Since the pioneering Graham (1991) foundation research on servant leadership theory development, research has theoretically, and empirically differentiated servant leadership from other leadership approaches. Lack of clarity and coherence in the servant leadership subject despite a surging academic interest also informs the purpose of this research.

Research on servant leadership has been done across multiple disciplines, including top-tier management, education, nursing, youth, tourism, public, and not-for-profit sectors, and appeared in respective journals. Decades of research across multiple disciplines have advanced the servant leadership theory, but the fragmented studies are not integrated (Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2010). The existing measures of servant leadership are yet to be assessed. This research paper evaluates the measures to form a basis for future research on servant leadership measures. The paper also seeks to review servant leadership vs. outcomes due to the significance of this relationship. Generally, the paper discusses the positioning of servant leadership in the leadership theories network, providing a clear servant leadership definition. The paper also discusses and evaluates servant leadership research design and measurements and evaluates empirical servant leadership work to map the nomological network based on antecedents, theories, outcomes, and the construct mechanisms. Finally, the paper discusses limitations and implications and suggests empirical and theoretical advancements for future research.

An Understanding and Definition of Servant Leadership in Literature of Leadership

Although there is an increase in leadership theories, no evidence exists to show that each theory empirically and theoretically differs from its predecessors. Some studies have provided empirical evidence to support servant leaderships rising validity over other forms of leadership (Barbuto Jr, Gottfredson & Searle, 2014). However, it is difficult to determine this due to limitations of existing research studies such as measurement error, endogeneity bias, and bias of standard methods. Other limitations include relatively low sample sizes adopted in meta-analyses and the small number of research studies. Empirical and theoretical arguments showcase how servant leadership is different from ethical, transformational, and authentic leadership.

Servant leadership separation and conceptual grouping address the problem of unrationalized categorization. It eliminates the wrong assumption that this form of leadership is similar to other leadership techniques based on value (Barbuto Jr, Gottfredson & Searle, 2014). Servant leadership differs conceptually from transformational leadership. For example, it focuses more on followers psychological needs as a goal on its own. On the converse, transformational leadership considers the need to be less critical to the goals of an organization.

A common overlap between the two types of leadership is that they both emphasize the needs of followers. However, they differ qualitatively regarding why the focus is emphasized and where it is positioned relative to other vital factors in a company. The aim of transformational leadership to emphasize the needs of followers is purposed to help the organization attain better its objectives and goals (a means to reaching an end goal). However, servant leaders focus on followers multidimensional development as an ultimate goal. When servant leaders focus on meeting their followers needs, the companys goals are eventually met as a by-product or result of satisfying those needs over time (Barbuto Jr, Gottfredson & Searle, 2014). Unlike transformational leaders, servant leaders have a higher chance of prioritizing the needs of followers as the focus of their leadership, followed by those of the organization, and their own would be fulfilled last.

Servant leadership, just like authentic leadership, acknowledges the essence of being accurate and authentic when interacting with other people in the same organization. However, the need for servant leaders to work from a deep sense of self-control and self-awareness emanates from their altruistic and spiritual need to serve their followers, not present in authentic forms of leadership. Servant leaders are motivated by an inner conviction or higher calling to be authentic in their leadership, to serve others, and make a difference in their lives (Barbuto Jr, Gottfredson & Searle, 2014). In comparison to ethical leadership, servant leadership adopts stewardship as a critical part of effective leadership, focusing on long-term views with all stakeholders.

According to ethical leadership theory, the behavior of leaders is more prescriptive and aligned with rules to follow based on what a leaders innate ethical rules deem reasonable. However, the behavior of servant leaders is more contingent and flexible, putting both the needs of the organization and followers in perspective. On the other hand, ethical leadership focuses on being trustworthy, honest, and caring for people. However, it puts little emphasis on directing followers and authenticity. Servant leadership, unlike transformational leadership, can predict the outcomes of followers (Barbuto Jr, Gottfredson & Searle, 2014). It can offer up to 12% greater incremental variance on follower outcomes than transformational leadership approaches. On the other hand, ethical leadership offers an outcome variance of 6.2% and authentic leadership of 5.2%.

There is a need for further research to differentiate servant leadership from other forms of leadership theories empirically. However, servant leadership is conceptually different from other leadership approaches based on its overarching objective and motive. Researchers must use more robust techniques to analyze how servant leadership is different empirically from other theories of leadership (Barbuto Jr, Gottfredson & Searle, 2014). There is also a need to determine servant leaderships predictive or incremental validity over other theories of leadership. Moreover, further analysis would determine whether the difference in leadership approaches focus would impact how they predict outcomes.

Definition of Servant Leadership

A servant leader has the natural feeling to serve followers first. The leader is a servant first before being a leader. The leader chooses consciously to lead. Servant leadership is an approach oriented towards others. It involves a leader prioritizing the interests and needs of individual followers and reorienting personal concerns towards others within the same organization or community (Barnes et al., 2015). Based on the definition, the motive of servant leadership is the Servant-first element that stems outside a leader, hence the other-oriented approach. Unlike other leadership approaches, the servant leader is motivated from within to take up leadership roles. The orientation to serve others showcases the leaders conviction, resolve, or belief that leading followers is a way to