Servant leadership from a follower's perspective: The role of follower perceptions of leader behaviour, leader feedback, and own engagement

It is accepted wisdom that leadership involves both leaders and followers. To date, leadership research is still leader-centric dominant, with focus directed mostly to the leader determining the effectiveness and success of the leadership model. Few studies have empirically tested the role of followers in the leadership process. For servant leadership theory, which is a follower-based leadership model, this leader-centric point of view in research is particularly problematic. The present study addresses these conceptual gaps in the literature by adopting a follower-centric approach to examine servant leadership. Using self-determination theory and followership theory as theoretical anchors for this research, the researcher examines the relationship between a follower’s perception of servant leader behaviour and how it affects a follower’s response. In addition, this thesis will also explore the role of work engagement and feedback as potential mediating mechanisms in the relationship. Two studies were conducted to address the five research questions developed by the researcher. In Study 1, a quantitative online survey was used to collect a total of 113 responses from a total of four not-for-profit and for-profit organisations in Australia and Singapore. Results from the data analysis based on the data collected showed that a follower’s perception of servant leader behaviour is positively related to a follower’s response. It was also established that a follower’s perception of servant leader behaviour is positively related to a follower’s work engagement and perception of the leader’s feedback. Lastly, a follower’s work engagement was found to partially meditate the relationship between a follower’s perception of servant leader behaviour and a follower’s response. Follower perceptions of leader feedback did not mediate follower perceptions of servant leader behaviour and follower responses. In Study 2, a qualitative in-depth semi-structured interview was conducted with eight leaders from the four participating organisations. Analysis from the audio transcripts confirmed the researcher’s preconceived notion that followers have an impact on a servant leader’s practise. It was also established that awareness of servant leadership was low among the respondents even though they were practising the servant leadership philosophy. Lastly, follower influence tactics were identified during the analysis of the transcripts and the researcher noted that this area of research is currently lacking in servant leadership literature. Overall, this study contributes to the servant leadership literature in four ways. Firstly, by adopting a follower-centric approach, it extends the servant leadership, follower responses, work engagement, and leader feedback literatures, which presently are lacking. Secondly, this study is among the first to draw an empirical link between servant leadership, work engagement, feedback and follower responses. Thirdly, the use of self-determination theory and followership theory extends the literature on servant leadership, illuminating the effects of follower perceptions of leader behaviour, perceptions of leader feedback, and follower levels of work engagement. Lastly, follower work engagement was shown to partially mediate the relationship between follower perceptions of servant leader behaviour and follower responses. The findings from this thesis inform practitioners of the need to focus on increasing follower perceptions of their servant leadership attributes. Additionally, this thesis sets the stage for exploring servant leadership from a follower-centric perspective, pointing to new research directions for further explorations of the role of both the leader and follower in the ever-evolving leadership process.