Healing a Broken Spirit: Role of Servant Leadership
Executive Summary A number of empirical studies have suggested that servant leadership can enhance the well-being/emotional health of its followers by creating a positive work climate ( Black, 2010 ; Jaramillo et al., 2009 a; Neubert et al., 2008 ). The followers’ sense of well-being, in turn, has b...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Vikalpa |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/0256090917703754 |
| _version_ | 1818865995879546880 |
|---|---|
| author | Ravinder Jit C. S. Sharma Mona Kawatra |
| author_facet | Ravinder Jit C. S. Sharma Mona Kawatra |
| author_sort | Ravinder Jit |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Executive Summary A number of empirical studies have suggested that servant leadership can enhance the well-being/emotional health of its followers by creating a positive work climate ( Black, 2010 ; Jaramillo et al., 2009 a; Neubert et al., 2008 ). The followers’ sense of well-being, in turn, has been found to be related to greater organizational commitment ( Cerit, 2010 ; Hale & Fields, 2007 ; Hamilton & Bean, 2005 ; Han, Kakabadse, & Kakabadse, 2010; Pekerti & Sendjaya, 2010 ). Greater the organizational commitment, higher is the employee job satisfaction ( Cerit, 2009 ; Chung, Jung, Kyle, & Petrick, 2010 ; Jenkins & Stewart, 2010 ; Mayer, Bardes, & Piccolo, 2008 ) and lower is the employee turnover ( Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2011 ; Jaramillo, Grisaffe, Chonko, & Roberts, 2009 b). A servant leader—with reported behaviour characteristics such as empathy, compassion, and altruistic calling and healing—builds not only a mentally and emotionally healthy workforce but also inculcates a sense of cohesiveness, collaboration, and sustainable relationships among the followers by understanding and addressing their feelings and emotions. It has been reported that cohesiveness and collaboration in a servant-led organization increases pro-social and altruistic behaviour among followers that improves organizational performance ( Ebener & O’Connell, 2010 ; Ehrhart, 2004 ; Hu & Liden, 2011 ; Walumbwa, Hartnell, & Oke, 2010 ) and overall team effectiveness ( Mayer et al., 2008 ; McCuddy & Cavin, 2008 ; Taylor et al., 2007 ). The significance of understanding and addressing the feelings and emotions of followers and ensuring their well-being becomes evident from the above findings. The aim of this qualitative study is to comprehend how servant leaders understand, empathize with, and address the emotional turmoil of their employees. Orientation for emotional healing is reported to be a unique characteristic of servant leaders. But there is negligible empirical research to understand the way servant leaders alleviate the suffering of their employees. The present study fills this gap. Qualitative methods and techniques from different qualitative methodologies were used for data collection and analysis. We conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with leaders in corporate, education, and government sectors to capture personal accounts about their experiences, reflections, and analysis of their approach to emotional healing. Our results suggest that servant leaders—with their orientation for empathy, compassion, healing, altruistic calling, and listening—adopt a compassionate approach to manage employees’ emotional turmoil. All three parts of the process of compassion, described by Clark (1997) and Kanov et al. (2004) are clearly visible in the narratives of our respondents. The servant leaders, with characteristics of empathy and compassion, are oriented towards the followers’ suffering. This leads to empathic concern and compassion that trigger in them an urge to take action to relieve the followers’ suffering. This action, also termed as compassionate responding, manifests itself in a three-step behaviour: (1) patient listening and discussion; (2) empathetic handling that includes comforting and calming as well as guiding and counselling the suffering employee; and (3) taking personal responsibility and providing support (emotional, social, financial, and administrative). Insight from this study will guide the working managers to understand and practice the process of alleviating the emotional turmoil of employees such that a culture of compassion and benevolence will emerge and sustain for the long-term health and growth of the organization. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T10:56:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a09cff351bc846bcbfc2274fbda60ae2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0256-0909 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T10:56:25Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Vikalpa |
| spelling | doaj.art-a09cff351bc846bcbfc2274fbda60ae22022-12-21T20:24:47ZengSAGE PublishingVikalpa0256-09092017-06-014210.1177/0256090917703754Healing a Broken Spirit: Role of Servant LeadershipRavinder Jit0C. S. Sharma1Mona Kawatra2 is a Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management in Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, Delhi. She has a PhD in Psychology. She has co-authored/edited four books and has been the editor of three refereed journals. She has presented papers in various national and international conferences and seminars. She has also published 12 articles in various journals and national and international conference proceedings. One of her articles has been published in volume 27 issue 4 of , an Emerald Publication. E-mail: is a Professor in Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi specializing in Organizational Behaviour. He has acted in a consultative capacity to corporations, renowned institutions of higher learning and the Government of India. He was the principal academic advisor to Educomp Raffles Higher Education Limited. As a management subject expert, he conceptualized immersive and innovative content framework for this organization. He has published 34 articles in refereed national and international journals and conference proceedings. He has co-authored/edited 13 books and has been editor-in-chief of two refereed/refereed-indexed journal. He has presented a number of papers in various national and international conferences/seminars. One of his articles has been published in volume 27 issue 4 of , an Emerald Publication. He is regularly invited for special lectures/workshops (more than 160 till date). E-mail: is an Assistant Professor in Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Management Studies, Delhi. She has presented papers in various national and international conferences and seminars. She has published 10 articles in various national and international conference proceedings. One of her articles has been published in volume 27 issue 4 of . E-mail: Executive Summary A number of empirical studies have suggested that servant leadership can enhance the well-being/emotional health of its followers by creating a positive work climate ( Black, 2010 ; Jaramillo et al., 2009 a; Neubert et al., 2008 ). The followers’ sense of well-being, in turn, has been found to be related to greater organizational commitment ( Cerit, 2010 ; Hale & Fields, 2007 ; Hamilton & Bean, 2005 ; Han, Kakabadse, & Kakabadse, 2010; Pekerti & Sendjaya, 2010 ). Greater the organizational commitment, higher is the employee job satisfaction ( Cerit, 2009 ; Chung, Jung, Kyle, & Petrick, 2010 ; Jenkins & Stewart, 2010 ; Mayer, Bardes, & Piccolo, 2008 ) and lower is the employee turnover ( Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2011 ; Jaramillo, Grisaffe, Chonko, & Roberts, 2009 b). A servant leader—with reported behaviour characteristics such as empathy, compassion, and altruistic calling and healing—builds not only a mentally and emotionally healthy workforce but also inculcates a sense of cohesiveness, collaboration, and sustainable relationships among the followers by understanding and addressing their feelings and emotions. It has been reported that cohesiveness and collaboration in a servant-led organization increases pro-social and altruistic behaviour among followers that improves organizational performance ( Ebener & O’Connell, 2010 ; Ehrhart, 2004 ; Hu & Liden, 2011 ; Walumbwa, Hartnell, & Oke, 2010 ) and overall team effectiveness ( Mayer et al., 2008 ; McCuddy & Cavin, 2008 ; Taylor et al., 2007 ). The significance of understanding and addressing the feelings and emotions of followers and ensuring their well-being becomes evident from the above findings. The aim of this qualitative study is to comprehend how servant leaders understand, empathize with, and address the emotional turmoil of their employees. Orientation for emotional healing is reported to be a unique characteristic of servant leaders. But there is negligible empirical research to understand the way servant leaders alleviate the suffering of their employees. The present study fills this gap. Qualitative methods and techniques from different qualitative methodologies were used for data collection and analysis. We conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with leaders in corporate, education, and government sectors to capture personal accounts about their experiences, reflections, and analysis of their approach to emotional healing. Our results suggest that servant leaders—with their orientation for empathy, compassion, healing, altruistic calling, and listening—adopt a compassionate approach to manage employees’ emotional turmoil. All three parts of the process of compassion, described by Clark (1997) and Kanov et al. (2004) are clearly visible in the narratives of our respondents. The servant leaders, with characteristics of empathy and compassion, are oriented towards the followers’ suffering. This leads to empathic concern and compassion that trigger in them an urge to take action to relieve the followers’ suffering. This action, also termed as compassionate responding, manifests itself in a three-step behaviour: (1) patient listening and discussion; (2) empathetic handling that includes comforting and calming as well as guiding and counselling the suffering employee; and (3) taking personal responsibility and providing support (emotional, social, financial, and administrative). Insight from this study will guide the working managers to understand and practice the process of alleviating the emotional turmoil of employees such that a culture of compassion and benevolence will emerge and sustain for the long-term health and growth of the organization.https://doi.org/10.1177/0256090917703754 |
| spellingShingle | Ravinder Jit C. S. Sharma Mona Kawatra Healing a Broken Spirit: Role of Servant Leadership Vikalpa |
| title | Healing a Broken Spirit: Role of Servant Leadership |
| title_full | Healing a Broken Spirit: Role of Servant Leadership |
| title_fullStr | Healing a Broken Spirit: Role of Servant Leadership |
| title_full_unstemmed | Healing a Broken Spirit: Role of Servant Leadership |
| title_short | Healing a Broken Spirit: Role of Servant Leadership |
| title_sort | healing a broken spirit role of servant leadership |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/0256090917703754 |
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