Dr. Nathan Eva, a renowned researcher in leadership and organizational performance, discusses servant leadership, its focus on development and community, and the positive impact on stakeholders. They also reflect on North American travel, the Australian music scene, and the importance of meeting the needs of others in leadership.
Servant leadership emphasizes personal and professional development of employees and active contribution to the community.
Servant leadership is effective across cultures and has benefits for employees' well-being, customer service, and business performance.
Deep dives
Foundational Concepts of Servant Leadership
Servant leadership is characterized by a strong focus on the personal and professional development of employees. It involves asking questions like 'Have they grown during their time with me?' to ensure growth and development. Additionally, servant leadership places a strong emphasis on community, with the belief that businesses should actively contribute to making the world a better place. This involves actions like giving back to the community, volunteering, and fostering win-win solutions through ethical decision-making.
Benefits of Servant Leadership
Servant leadership has been shown to have numerous benefits across various stakeholders. For employees, it leads to increased well-being, engagement, and a willingness to help others. It also enhances the quality of service provided to customers. From a business perspective, servant leadership has been linked to improved performance and profitability. Interestingly, even shareholders benefit as organizations practicing servant leadership, such as Home Depot, continue to demonstrate profit growth while investing in their employees, communities, and customer service.
Servant Leadership Across Cultures
The concept of servant leadership has demonstrated its effectiveness across cultures. Research has shown that servant leadership can translate well across different cultural contexts, including the Chinese civil service. The values embedded within servant leadership, such as an other-oriented focus and community engagement, resonates with diverse societies. Moreover, meta-analyses have underscored the positive impact of servant leadership across multiple outcomes, including individual and firm performance.
Future Directions in Servant Leadership Research
The field of servant leadership is advancing with efforts to address its flaws and strengthen its foundations. Scholars are focusing on refining measurement methods, exploring context-specific applications, and examining the impact of servant leadership within specific domains like vocational behavior and the public service sector. The Greenleaf Scholars program provides invaluable support for emerging researchers in this field. Furthermore, a special issue in Group and Organizational Management aims to foster healthier servant leadership research by pairing junior scholars with senior scholars to explore various aspects of servant leadership.
Dr. Nathan Eva is a Fulbright Scholar (2021) and the co-director of Engagement for the Department of Management at the Monash Business School. His research examines follower-first leadership approaches that deliver organizational performance combined with inclusive and supportive workplaces.
Associate Professor Eva received his Ph.D. from Monash University in 2014, received the 2015 Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Award in Leadership, was awarded as a 2016 Greenleaf Scholar by the Greenleaf Centre for Servant Leadership, received the 2020 Dean's Awards for Excellence in Research by an Early Career Researcher, and was Highly Commended for his research as an Early Career Scholar for the 2018 ANZAM Excellence Awards. He received the 2016 and 2013 Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence at the Monash Business School, and has been consistently recognized for outstanding teaching by the Office of the Vice-Provost.
His peer-reviewed work appears in international outlets such as The Leadership Quarterly,Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Human Resource Management. His article on Servant Leadership in The Leadership Quarterly is the most downloaded and the most cited article in their journal since 2017, and his article on Psychological Safety in Human Resource Management Review received the journal's Scholarly Impact Award for the most impactful article (2017-2022).
Associate Professor Eva is a Board Member of theNetwork of Leadership Scholars, the Chair of the Leadership Scholarship stream for the International Leadership Association, and the Co-Chair of the International Leadership Association’s Leadership Education Academy. He is a Senior Editor for Management and Organization Review and an editorial board member of The Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Business Ethics, & Group and Organizational Management.
A Quote From this Episode
"At the very core, it's all around this other orientation...Servant leaders really focus on the personal and professional development of their employees, team members, classmates, or sportsmates."
About The International Leadership Association (ILA)
The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Plan for ILA's 25th Global Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, October 12-15, 2023.
About The Boler College of Business at John Carroll University
Boler offers four MBA programs – 1 Year Flexible, Hybr
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