From Novice to Expert: The Development of a Servant Leader

This study borrows from Avolio and Gibbons’ (1988) life span work, Aviolio’s (2005) work on the life stream of a leader, Murphy and Johnson’s (2011) work of life lessons in leadership development, and Shamir and Eilam’s (2005) life stories research to explore how servant leaders develop the attributes and behaviors associated with servant leadership. Fourteen servant leaders representing multiple congregational units at various hierarchical levels from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints organization were used to research the phenomenon.

This research utilized a grounded, inductive, and interpretive case study approach to collect and analyze data. To identify the presence and practice of servant leadership the SL-7 instrument was used (Liden, Wayne, Meuser, Hu, Wu, & Liao, 2015). Once the servant leaders were identified, in order to produce thick, rich descriptions, I collected data through three principle activities: (1) conducting semi-structured interviews with the identified pool of servant leaders; (2) reviewing a target sample of training activities and documents; and (3) observing relevant training meetings. In total, this yielded approximately 500 pages of single-spaced text data.

The data was analyzed following the procedures established for inductive research aimed at building theory, found in the work of Creswell (2009), Van Maanen (1979), Gioia, Corley, & Hamilton (2013), Corley and Gioia (2004), and Corbin and Strauss (2014). This approach guided four steps of analysis from establishing first-order codes, to creating theoretical sub-categories and categories, which then converged into aggregate theoretical dimensions.

There were five aggregate theoretical dimensions found: (1) exposure to models of servant leader behavior; (2) intra-organizational leadership experience; (3) leader training; (4) spiritual learning; and (5) extra-organizational factors. From the five aggregate theoretical dimensions I form and propose a conceptual model of servant leader development. Implications of the model are also discussed through the lens of instructional design, leader development, performance improvement, and HRD. The study’s boundary conditions and limitations are explained. Finally, this study highlights the need for additional research on servant leader development in different contexts, micro training design decisions, the specific mechanisms involved in a proto-servant leadership experiences (like the LDS Mission), and the dynamic role of peer and follower (i.e., 360 degree) feedback.