A Rational Perspective of Servant Leadership: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Servant Leader Motivation

Kevin J. Hurt and Ross Nolan
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Kevin J. Hurt: Columbus State University
Ross Nolan: United States Army

American Business Review, 2024, vol. 27, issue 1, 326-348

Abstract: Advocates of servant leadership maintain that altruism is the foundational ethic fueling the success of the servant leader. Thus, the foremost requirement of a servant leader is the possession of a concern for others above and beyond his or herself. Researchers have largely neglected the possibility that servant leaders may be, at least partially, motivated by self-interest. We challenge the current foundational ethic attributed with servant leadership and put forth a new ethical perspective. Reviewing four motivational states, from purely other-centered to purely self-centered, we introduce a conceptual model and argue that the proper ethic to ascribe with servant leadership is a dual motivational perspective of rational self-interest and agapao love. A dual motivational perspective allows the servant leader to avoid the negative consequences of the self-sacrificial, altruistic motivation while maintaining the positive, pro-social behaviors that improve organizational outcomes associated with servant leadership.

Keywords: Servant Leadership; Altruism; Rational Self-Interest (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:ambsrv:0106

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