Abstract:

The essential characteristic of servant leadership is serving first, which transcends any other leadership behaviors of organizational benefits first. However, the relevant research in Chinese organizational context is not enough. This research explored the construct of servant leadership and developed a measure of servant leadership in Chinese context with qualitative method and quantitative method. This research also examined the effectiveness of servant leadership with the techniques of structural equation model and hierarchical regression analysis dealing with the longitudinal data from paired supervisor-subordinate. Three studies were included: (1) The construct and measurement of servant leadership; (2) the longitudinal research of the effectiveness of servant leadership based on the perspective of comparing leadership behaviors; and (3) the longitudinal research of the effectiveness of servant leadership based on the perspective of influencing mechanism. The results are helpful to clarify the connotation and dimensions of servant leadership, recognize and measure servant leadership behavior, and examine the effectiveness of servant leadership. The results also compare the effects of servant leadership on team’s and employee’s performance with the ones of paternalistic leadership and transformational leadership, and reveal the mediating mechanism between servant leadership and team’s and employee’s performance.

Key words: servant leadership, leadership effectiveness, longitudinal study, mediating effect