Investigation of the Effects of Servant Leadership Behaviors on Leader Well-being

: Past research has established that servant leadership has significant benefits for the followers. Much lesser attention has been given to how servant leadership behaviors influence the leaders themselves. In this experience-sampling study, we focus on the costs and benefits of daily servant leadership behaviors for the leaders. Drawing from self-determination theory, we investigate the boundary conditions of the relationship between servant leadership behaviors and leader well-being. A sample of 154 managers took part in a diary study with two measurement occasions per day over ten consecutive working days. We hypothesized and found that for leaders low in extraversion, servant leadership behaviors are associated with increases in vigor and subsequent work-to-family enrichment. In contrast, results indicated that when leaders perceive that there is a pressure to help the subordinates i.e. helping pressure, then servant leadership behaviors are related with increases in emotional exhaustion. Overall, our research provides insights on how servant leadership behaviors may be beneficial or detrimental for leader’s well-being.