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Original Article

Servant Leadership

How Daily and General Behaviors Interact

Published Online:October 01, 2021https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000282

Abstract

Abstract. The present study takes a closer look at servant leadership from a daily diary perspective. We hypothesized daily servant leadership to positively relate to the follower resources: self-efficacy and optimism. We further proposed that this relation should be attenuated if followers do not perceive their leaders to also lead servantly on a general basis. In a diary study, 98 followers completed questionnaires over one week. Hierarchical linear modeling showed daily servant leadership to be associated with followers' daily self-efficacy, but not with followers' daily optimism. Additionally, for the proposed interaction of daily servant leadership with general perceptions of servant leadership, results confirmed the proposed interaction for followers' daily optimism, but not for daily self-efficacy.

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