Reference Articles

Servant Leader Beginnings

Stewardship

Journal Articles

Article 1: Beck, C. D. (2014). Antecedents of Servant Leadership: A mixed methods study. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 21(3), 299-314.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. Why did this scholar decide to study specifically the antecedent conditions of servant leadership?
2. Use at least two of the four themes that describe why the longer a leader is in a leadership role, the more frequent the servant leader behaviors, and discuss why these findings highlight the understanding of antecedent conditions.
3. Finding 3 is “servant leaders influence others through building trusting relationships”. What leader behaviors in the text are consistent with the resultant themes in finding 3?

*a. Answers vary.

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Article 2: Barbuto, J. E., Gottfredson, R. K. and Searle, T. P. (2014). An examination of emotional intelligence as an antecedent of servant leadership. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 21(3), 315-323.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. Define emotional intelligence and then describe why it might be considered an antecedent of servant leadership.
2. Why is it important to identify the antecedents of servant leadership?
3. Is emotional intelligence an antecedent of servant leadership? Defend your answer based on information in this article.

*a. Answers vary.

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Article 3: Sturm, B.A. (2009). Principles of servant-leadership in community health nursing. Home Health Care Management & Practice 21(2), 82-89.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. Explain what ethnographic research is.  Why does is make sense to complete this study using ethnographic methods?
2. Discuss how theme one “respect and valuing of one as a unique individual” is related to servant leadership characteristics.
3. How do nursing supervisors in this study show the servant leadership characteristic “stewardship?” What is the effect of stewardship on the nursing staff?

*a. Answers vary.

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Article 4: Searle, T.P. and Barbuto, J.E. (2011). Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 18(1), 107-117.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. This article identified five dimensions of servant leadership. What servant leader behaviors found in the Northouse text in the Model of Servant Leadership could describe the dimension altruistic calling in this research article?
2. How does positive micro-level behavior described in the article affect performance?
3. Discuss hope in this article as is relates to positive psychology and servant leadership. Why is hope a significant psychological factor to use when studying servant leadership?

*a. Answers vary.

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Article 5: Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management 37(4), 1228-1261.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. Describe the historical development of servant leadership as outlined in this article.
2. How are concepts from Leader-Member Exchange theory incorporated into the development of servant leadership?
3. How is leader motivation to serve incorporated into the servant leadership model? How is this consistent with personality research in leadership?

*a. Answers vary.

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Article 6: Hale, J.R. and Fields, D.L. (2007). Exploring servant leadership across cultures: A study of followers in Ghana and the USA. Leadership 3(4), 397-417.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. Describe the Ghanaian neo-patrimonial practices. Include in your description a brief comparison between Ghanaian and United States leadership styles presented in the article.
2. What cultural differences are prevalent between Ghana and the United States that potentially affect use of servant leadership in these countries?
3. How is servant leadership expressed differently in the USA as compared to Ghana?

*a. Answers vary.