Posted: October 3rd, 2022

A meta-analytic review of the consequences of servant leadership: the moderating roles of cultural factors.

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Each reply must incorporate at least 1 scholarly citation in APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include textbooks, course lectures, presentations, the Bible, etc.). Each reply must include 2 questions that will further the conversation. Below you will find the discussion you need to reply to
Challenges
Leading like Jesus is rewarding but often challenging for those in leadership positions. Jesus was always a servant first, consistently exhibiting characteristics such as humility and courage. Jesus served everyone, regardless of their stature in the community, regardless of their race, and regardless of their poverty levels. He treated lepers and prostitutes with the same love and care that he showed to those with power and dignity. Jesus did not care for recognition or accolades; he loved everyone the same and served everyone with his heart, with no regard for reward or praise.
The workplace today is riddled with hierarchies focused on materialistic success and egotistical behavior. Ethical leadership has consistently been defined as “the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making (Mabey et.al., 2017). Nowhere in that general definition is the word “serve” written.
Managers and leaders today have tried to exemplify the leadership traits of Jesus. A plethora of articles have been written trying to identify common characteristics and a correlation between those characteristics and Jesus, but many leaders lack the spiritual foundation of love, integrity, and service in all they do, making it difficult to truly mirror Jesus’ leadership style. While many managers in organizations today are not intentionally dishonest, there is still a large degree of egotistical characteristics present in today’s leadership, challenging leaders to truly serve like Jesus. In Matthew 19:26 Jesus exclaims, “humanly speaking, it is impossible, but with God everything is possible.” This statement made by Jesus is a lesson for all leaders that there are some things that humans cannot obtain by themselves, such as personal integrity, honesty, kindness, and fairness. Humans lack the willpower to avoid their egotistical desires, as humans are flawed. Those that put their faith and trust in a “higher power” can achieve those intangible characteristics and truly lead like Jesus.
Cultural Characteristics
Servant leadership is a type of leadership style in which managers within organizations attempt to embody morally ethical behavior with a heart for service to their followers. Servant leaders should not put their interests first, rather, their actions should always be selfless and focused only on their followers’ development. Zhang et al. (2019) posit that there are four cultural dimensions that impact servant leadership – traditionality, masculinity, individualism, and power distance.
Cultural characteristics such as the perception of traditionality, masculinity, individualism, and power distance are critical and can impact the success of servant leadership. In some cultures, powerful leaders are seen as commanding and controlling, demanding obedience from subordinates (Zhang et al., 2019). In a culture such as traditional culture, a servant leader might not be as successful in seeing positive change and work performance as those in a nontraditional culture, because servant leaders can be perceived as weak.
Being able to identify the cultural norms within a company is paramount to the success of implementing servant leadership styles. While some cultural differences exist, servant leadership can still be effective. Focusing on the core values of servant leadership; morality, humility, and authenticity, managers can still have a positive impact on their followers regardless of cultural differences. References Mabey, C., Conroy, M., Blakeley, K., & de Marco, S. (2017). Having burned the straw man of Christian spiritual leadership, what can we learn from Jesus about leading ethically? Journal of Business Ethics, 145(4), 757-769. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3054-5
Zhang, Y., Zheng, Y., Zhang, L., Xu, S., Liu, X., & Chen, W. (2019). A meta-analytic review of the consequences of servant leadership: The moderating roles of cultural factors. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 38(1), 371-400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-018-9639-z

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