ERIM Top-Core Articles · 2017 · 22 citations · 0 references
ManagementLeadershipOrganizational BehaviorLeadership TheoryOrganizational LeadershipServant LeadershipLeader-follower RelationshipsLeadership StylesHierarchical PowerServant Leadership TheoryVirtues Of Leadership
Servant leadership is theorized as a model where humility coexists with action‑driven behavior. The study tests how humility and action interact to generate follower engagement, considering hierarchical power as a contingency. A three‑way moderation model was applied to a sample of 232 employees across diverse companies. Humble leaders had the strongest engagement impact regardless of hierarchy; less humble leaders in lower positions compensated via action, while for high‑hierarchy leaders humility amplified action’s effect, supporting the interplay between humility and action in servant leadership.
Servant leadership has been theorized as a model where the moral virtue of humility co-exists with action-driven behavior. This article provides an empirical study that tests how these two apparently paradoxical aspects of servant leadership interact in generating follower engagement, while considering the hierarchical power of the leader as a contingency variable. Through a three-way moderation model, a study was conducted based on a sample of 232 people working in a diverse range of companies. The first finding is that humble leaders showed the highest impact on follower engagement regardless of their hierarchical position. Less humble leaders in lower hierarchical positions seem to be able to compensate for that through a strong action-oriented leadership style. Most notably for leaders in high hierarchical positions, the moral virtue of humility seems to strengthen the impact of their action-oriented leadership the most. These findings provide empirical support and a better understanding of the interplay between the moral virtue of humility and the action-oriented behaviors of servant leadership.