Servant Leadership and Follower Job Performance: The Mediating Effect of Public Service Motivation

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Main author: Schwarz, Gary
Other authors: Newman, Alexander
Cooper, Brian
Eva, Nathan
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-22249
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description This article advances our understanding of the effects of servant leadership, an employee- and community-focused leadership style, on followers’ public service motivation (PSM) and job performance. Based on social learning theory, we argue that by emphasizing to their followers the importance of serving others both inside and outside the organization and by acting as role models by serving others themselves, servant leaders enhance job performance by engendering higher PSM in their followers. A multi-level analysis of three waves of multi-source data from a Chinese government agency reveals that PSM mediates the influence that servant leadership has on followers’ job performance. The results are consistent with the theoretical predications that the altruistic behaviour displayed by servant leaders elicits higher levels of the altruistic behaviours that characterize PSM, which in turn increases job performance. Hence, this study contributes to our overall understanding of how leadership drives performance in the public sector.
format Journal Article
author Schwarz, Gary
author_facet Schwarz, Gary
Newman, Alexander
Cooper, Brian
Eva, Nathan
authorStr Schwarz, Gary
author_letter Schwarz, Gary
author2 Newman, Alexander
Cooper, Brian
Eva, Nathan
author2Str Newman, Alexander
Cooper, Brian
Eva, Nathan
title Servant Leadership and Follower Job Performance: The Mediating Effect of Public Service Motivation
publisher Wiley
publishDate 2016
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/22249/

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