Leadership behaviors have a direct impact on employee satisfaction and motivation.
.The days of static economies, mechanistic approaches, and hierarchal organizational
management are in need of serious re-evaluation. The servant leadership model should be used to
change the behaviors of leaders from authoritative, removed from, and seemingly indifferent of
their follower’s needs of inclusion and engagement. Those that heed the call
recognize that organizational success will require leadership to evolve from being viewed as
unidirectional and managerial, from top to bottom to more with a view of predicting, reacting,
and developing new ways of leading. Wong and Davey (2007) asserted that the
focus of leadership needed to be shifted from process and outcome to people and the future in
today’s work environment. Changing the perception of viewing employees or followers as
subordinate would be a start in redefining the Darwinian leadership hierarchy from viewing
followership as a weakness. Developing the right types of leaders to meet the
challenges, and engage followers to be productive in a globally competitive world is germane to
sustainability. Under the servant leadership model, a serving, caring, and understanding leader is
best able to optimize worker motivation through (a) developing workers’ strengths and intrinsic
motivation and (b) creating a positive workplace. The leadership-follower relationship is ever
evolving and Servant Leadership’s focus on the follower first can make a positive impact to meet
the goals of the organization.
Visionary leaders who are more holistic in their decision-making practices and integrate
knowledge sharing into their organization will likely find success in the future.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between followers who report
to leaders who self-identify as servant leaders and the effectiveness of their servant leadership
style on followers job satisfaction, motivation and, loyalty to the organization.
argued that disillusionment about leaders spurred by repeated publicized scandals may be one
reason for the salience of ethical leadership in recent years. According to Yukl, people have
become more cynical and question the motives, competence, and integrity of business and
political leaders.
Numerous researchers have added their voice to the benefits of servant leadership
.In an early study, Spears introduced the attributes of Listening, Empathy, Healing, Awareness,
Persuasion, Conceptualization, Foresight, Stewardship, Commitment, and Community Building
into servant leadership model. Servant leaders strive to empower followers by making them
aware of their importance to the organization, encouraging
trust between followers and leadership to enhance loyalty. Sendjaya (2008) examines the
development and initial validation of a multidimensional measure of servant leadership behavior .
Stone, et.al (2004) posit that the primary difference between transformational leadership and
servant leadership is the focus of the leader. The transformational leader’s focus is directed
toward the organization, and his or her behavior builds follower commitment toward
organizational objectives, while the servant leader’s focus is on the followers, and the
achievement of organizational objectives is a subordinate outcome; Patterson (2003) further
added the attributes of Agape Love, Humility, Altruism, Vision, Trust, Empowerment, and
Service to the definition of a servant leader.
Wong & Page(2003) stated servant leadership is an attitude regarding the responsibilities of
the leader as much as it is a style of leadership, they further stated that servant leadership is
misunderstood in business organizations because it is in juxtaposition to the traditional autocratic
or hierarchical styles of leadership. Many of the companies named to Forbes Magazine annual
listing of “The 100 best companies to work for” espouse servant leadership and have integrated it
into their corporate cultures.
The servant leadership model seeks to empower followers and improve their commitment to
the organization by providing a positive, inclusive work environment. Organizations are
changing from autocratic and hierarchical models of leadership, toward leadership that seeks to
involve others in decision making. Leaders who have a clear vision coupled with
enthusiasm can provide the organization and its employees with motivation, commitment and
engagement to maintain sustainability in uncertain times. “Understanding the tools
needed for effective leadership is important, and the servant leadership philosophy offers leaders
the opportunity to not only understand the need of the organization but also allows for leaders to
incorporate one of the most valuable tools necessary in making the organization effective:
followers.”
Background of the Study
Robert Greenwell defined Servant Leadership as:
The Servant-Leader is servant first. . . . It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to
serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. . . . The best test, and
difficult to administer is this: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served,
become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, and more likely themselves to become
servants? In addition, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit, or at
least not be harmed? Servant leadership as an approach asks leaders to consider each
follower as an individual. Servant leaders hope to fulfill the unique needs of their followers by
providing the followers with support, the necessary tools to accomplish goals, and the empathetic
understanding and respect each human being deserves.
As an outcome, followers can develop trust, expect fairness, and in return offer respect increased
contributions, and loyalty. The leader-follower relationship and the working climate of trust and
fairness can lead to improved organizational outcomes from lower turnover to greater follower
commitment. Given the complex demographic environment in 21st
century corporations, servant leaders, rather than transactional or transformational leaders, may
be uniquely equipped to effectively reach each follower no matter which generation the follower
belongs to because of the altruistic focus on the individual follower rather than the leader or the
organization. Thus, a servant leader is seen as being able to modify his/her approach to
leadership depending on the cohort members with whom he/she is interacting. This leadership,
style will create a deeper acceptance by the followers of the leaders ‘visions, goals, and
directives. If followers “buy into” the visions, goals, and directives of a
leader with high personal integrity then followers may be less likely to experience dis-trust, job
dis-satisfaction and rather than leave, remain with a company. In turn, followers may display
servant leader characteristics themselves thus furthering an altruistic, empathetic, and ethically
focused corporate culture which has been linked to higher organizational functioning and
increased success.
.Spears (1998) expounded on Greenleaf’s theory by presented 10 characteristics that he felt the
servant-leaders should possess. The characteristics are listening, empathy, healing, awareness,
persuasion, as well as conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of
people and building community.
Listening: Managers should possess effective communication skills and the competence to make
decisions. Servant leaders actively listen to their followers and support them at all levels.
Empathy: Servant leaders want to understand and empathize with followers. Followers are not
considered subordinates, but as co-workers who need respect and acknowledgement to assist
them with personal development.
Healing: The servant leader is seen as someone who actively seeks to heal themselves and others.
Awareness: The servant leader seeks to gain self-awareness so he or she may be objective and
have holistic perspective regarding ethic, power, and values.
Persuasion: The servant leader does one coerces followers into following by exerting power over
them but rather seeks to persuade them by steering away from the authoritarian model.
Conceptualization: The servant leader is a forward thinker, who looks beyond limitations of
individuals and concepts and is able to focus on long-term operating goals.
Foresight: The servant leader reviews the history only as a way to prepare for and understand
current and future realities.
Stewardship: The servant leader feels an obligation to help others. They prefer openness and
persuasion to control and absolute authority over others. They create a working atmosphere in
which all staff is viewed as important assets to the organization.
Commitment: The servant leader believes in the value of their followers and seeks to nurture
them personally, professionally and spiritually.
Building community: The servant leader seeks to build an atmosphere of community both within
the organization and within the community.
Patterson (2003) took things a step further in her dissertation ‘Servant leadership: a theoretical
model’ to describe the values that the servant leader should possess. Servant leadership espouses
the following for their ‘followers’: agape love, acts with humility, altruistic deeds, being
visionary for followers, being trusting of followers, serving followers, and empowering
followers. Patterson called these values seven constructs that make the servant leaders.
Agape love: The servant leader expresses self-less love and caring for followers in a spiritual
manner. Acts with humility: The Servant leader is loyal first to serving followers and continually
seeks to regard followers with equality, rather than acting as superior.
Altruistic deeds: Servant leaders have genuine concern for other and show that concern through
good deeds on their behalf.
Visionary for followers: The servant leader envisions the growth and success of the follower
through empowerment and mentoring.
Trusting followers: The servant leader strives to build and maintain trust with followers by
showing respect for other and showing integrity.
Serving followers: Servant leadership by its name is concerned with providing service to others
first and foremost.
Empowering followers: Empowerment is the embodiment of the servant leadership model; it is
the key ingredient of the servant leadership recipe.
Statement of the Problem
Leadership theories are abundant. The Servant Leadership theory is still evolving, and thus so
is its impact on followers. This study will add to the literature on the impact that followers of
servant leaders experience. The value of the servant leadership model on followers is often
misunderstood. Servant leadership can be used by any organization to enhance
follower commitment and loyalty. Criticism that is directed at Servant
Leadership includes the belief by some that while Servant Leadership may be viewed as morally
and ethically sound, is it strong enough to engage followers and address the needs of any
organization trying to stay competitive in a complex business environment? Page & Wong (2000)
stated servant leadership is an attitude regarding the responsibilities of the leader to the follower
as much as it is a style of leadership. Barbuto & Wheeler (2006) also state that servant leadership
is misunderstood in business organizations because it is in juxtaposition to the traditional
autocratic or hierarchical styles of leadership.
Servant and Leader can be fused into leadership roles at all levels of the organizational
hierarchy and taken seriously. The focus of the servant leadership model is on the transformation
of the leader into someone influential and important to followers and should not be viewed as
weak. The principles of Servant leadership begin with serving followers and
putting their needs above your own as a leader. The approach believes in willingness to ‘give
power away’ and ‘let go’. The servant leadership philosophy which espouses
integrity, trust, respect, and authenticity is distinguishable for the focus it places on any
organizations greatest assets, its human resources.
Leadership continues to be the key to sustainability for organizations.
There have been studies of top organizations involving the principles and concepts of the servant
leadership philosophy. Branch (1999) indicated that researchers at companies such as Southwest
Airlines, Starbucks, Steak-n-Shake, and Chick-fil-A measured successful application of the
servant leadership model through surveying their employees which provided information on
employee motivation and satisfaction with the organization and lead to the lowering of attrition
of employees.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to gain a better understanding of the servant leadership model, and
its relevance to the motivation, loyalty, and job satisfaction of followers and their commitment to
the organization. The impact of following a servant leader will be documented to determine if
loyalty and job satisfaction are outcomes. Scholars have traditionally focused on leadership
theories in terms of the leaders actions, servant leaders are viewed by their focus on serving
others with humility. The methodological approaches were qualitative for the most part and the
paradigms that each researcher agreed on were the principle that the servant leader is a servant
first and a leader second.
The call to implement servant leadership in the personal, corporate, and community setting
was identified early on by Bennett J. Sims. He said, ‘the work of a servant leader honors
the personal dignity and worth of all who are led, and to evoke as much as possible their own
innate creative power for leaderships.” Sims’ focus on the members of a system and their
needs to be included in process goes beyond participatory management such as transformational
leadership. Despite being coined by Greenleaf in seventies, there is a growing interest in servant
leadership that seeks to develop the individual follower’s personal
evolution unlike transformational leadership which seeks only to direct the followers to commit
to the organization. Gaining a better understanding of the role of
servant leadership on the motivation of the follower is still being determined. This study will add
to that growing literature by asking servant leadership followers what their experiences have
were and if they were better served by a servant leader.
Rationale
Servant leadership can change the traditional authoritative culture of the organization to one that
is more inclusive to followers. This creates an environment where follower’s opinions and ideas
are valued. This allows for increased innovation which would be beneficial to the sustainability
of the organization.
Leadership teams would benefit from knowing if and how using a servant leadership approach is
appropriate for the company’s followers. Management teams may be more able to enhance
fairness and increase follower trust, affect, respect, contribution, and loyalty.
Having a large employee base with a healthy leader-follower relationship can lead to
enhanced corporate outcomes as the corporate culture shifts towards greater corporate social
responsibility. Employees may feel more empowered and engaged and in turn more satisfied and
less inclined to leave. Human resource professional may better screen, hire, train, and develop
employees by leaning on servant leadership attributes for guidance.
Research Questions
The research question for the study is:
What are lived experiences of followers who have leaders who self-identify as servant leaders?
Significance of the Study
This study will have significance to leaders in business who seek to gain loyalty, give
empowerment, and enhance follower participation in the longevity of the organization. This
study may show that organizations whose leaders practice Servant Leadership may positively
influence the work lives of followers. Servant leadership directs leaders to change from the
traditional hierarchical, command, and create a business culture of shared leadership throughout
their organization. The servant leader follower may then become more energized and connected
to the goals and mission of the organization.
Followers have individual reasons for terminating their relationships with companies; however,
one of the key factors affecting followers has been job satisfaction.
Effective and productive followers create healthier organizations, which result in lower costs and
higher profitability.
Leaders of healthy organizations must rely on happy, satisfied followers, thus recognizing
employee dissatisfaction has become extremely important. Successful leaders must use their
skills and experience to identify and evaluate plans of action for follower job satisfaction;
however, many leaders lack the skill and experience to do so. When
leaders understand which elements can result in contented employees, the leaders can raise job
satisfaction levels in their organizations. According to Johnson,
Definition of Terms
Terms are self-explanatory and do not need definition.
Assumptions and Limitations
The participants will be honest and forthright in their responses. It is assumed that the
methodology is correct to study the subject matter. These additional assumptions are added:
1. The perception of the practice of servant leadership is apparent in businesses with leaders
who self-identify as a servant.
2. The organization will promote their belief in servant leadership as indicated in its mission
statement and it will be apparent in the organizational culture.
3. There is a correlation between the practice of the servant leadership model and the
retention of followers in the organization.
The limitations are that phenomenological studies by nature can present limitations, as
respondents are responding to their own personal experience which is subject to bias. The email
survey will not show body language which can influence their responses. Not being able to see
facial expressions, body movement, and the expressive nature of bodily movement limits the true
meaning behind responses. The research will include submitting surveys to leaders and followers
of the servant leadership model. These types of research tolls limit observation and personal
interaction with respondents. Additional limitations can include identifying an appropriate
number of respondents for the study.
Nature of the Study (or Theoretical/Conceptual Framework)
The qualitative methodology and phenomenological design to ascertain the conscious
experiences of followers of leaders who self-identify as servant leaders and desire to change
from traditional hierarchical top-down leadership to shared leadership. Phone interviews and
surveys via LinkedIn will be conducted with as many respondents who agree to participate until
the research has an acceptable data with saturation according.
