Servant Leadership from Multiple Domains and Follower Work Behavior

Abstract

Managers and ministers exercise influence over their members inside and outside of their organizations. We examine the relationship of servant leadership from two contexts, an individual’s workplace and place of worship, with regulatory foci, and, in turn, entrepreneurial behavior and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) at work. Moreover, we contend that spiritual discipline (i.e., prayer and reading sacred texts) moderates the relationship of servant leadership to regulatory focus by altering the salience of each leader’s behavior. Using data collected in two waves from 912 working adults, we test the proposed relationships with multi-group structural equation modeling. Findings largely support the hypotheses and point toward important implications for servant leadership in both workplace and place of worship settings.