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Keywords
Leadership, Management styles, Model
Abstract
Servant leadership is an increasingly popular concept in the repertoire of leadership styles. While an intuitively attractive concept, it is systematically undefined and not yet supported by empirical research. Reviews the servant leadership literature with the intent to develop a preliminary theoretical framework. Builds a foundation for categorizing and appraising the functional and accompanying attributes of servant leaders. Once categorized, a formative, rational servant leadership attribute model is constructed. The authors call for further development of the model and empirical research to support it.
Various writers espouse servant leadership as a valid, modern theory for organizational leadership. For example, Greenleaf (1977) called for the application of servant leadership in business, education, churches, and foundations. Unfortunately, most of the servant leadership literature is philosophical. Northouse (1997, p.245) indicated one criticism of servant leadership is that it lacks support from "published, welldesigned, empirical research". Rather, the many examples used to advocate the theory are mostly "anecdotal in nature" (Northouse, 1997, p. 245). Consequently, the theory lacks sufficient scientific evidence to justify its widespread acceptance at this point in time.
Purpose
The primary purpose of this article is to examine the existing literature that relates to the concept of servant leadership and thereby develop a researchable model of the theory. Based on the literature, the paper builds a foundation for categorizing and appraising the attributes of servant leaders. Thereafter, the article assimilates the servant leadership attributes into a rational model. The model of servant leadership provides a foundation for practical application, as well as for future research.
Importance of this review
Greenleaf (1978, p. 77) described what he called "the leadership crisis". He argued that colleges, universities, and seminaries have failed in the responsibility to prepare young people for leadership roles in society. According to Bennis and Nanus (1997, p. 2), "the need [for leadership] was never so great. A chronic crisis of governance - that is, the pervasive incapacity of organizations to cope with the expectations of their constituents is now an overwhelming factor worldwide". Therefore, the subject of servant leadership is important to all types of organizations. It offers the potential to improve organizational leadership in many settings.
Introduction to servant leadership theory
Optimally, the prime motivation...