Unpacking Paul's Wisdom

Servant leadership has been identified as extremely important for organizational performance and success; therefore, much focus is placed on developing and maintaining leaders’ positive attitudes and behaviors toward their subordinates. Different servant models have been put out by earlier scholars. Nevertheless, only a small number of studies have focused on employee voice as a key precursor to servant leadership. The goal of this study is to look at the impacts of servant leadership style on employee voice by focusing on the mediating role of trust in a leader. Time-lagged data were gathered from 336 employees of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Pakistan. The perceived servant leadership style was positively and significantly associated with employees’voices mediated by trust in leaders. This study upgrades the comprehension of the components underlying the servant leadership and employee voice model by recognizing the intervening role of trust in the leader. Nonetheless, the survey design was not longitudinal, which restricts the study’s capacity to affirm causality. The results of this study acknowledge that servant leadership style and trust in leaders can promote constructive employee voice behavior. This study addresses the unproven mediating procedure of the link between servant leadership style and employee voice and offers new bearings for servant leadership and employee voice research, which, to the best of our knowledge, has not been explored before.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the role of trust in leaders in the relationship between dimensions of servant leadership and dimensions of organizational commitment in the information technology (IT) sector of Pakistan in post-COVID era. This paper also highlights the role of trust in leader as mediating mechanism among the examined variables.Design/methodology/approachSelf-administered questionnaires were distributed to IT professional working in the IT sector of Pakistan. The sample included 283 across Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.FindingsResults indicated that trust in a leader has a significant indirect effect on the relationship between the dimensions of servant leadership and organizational commitment. Upon further investigation, it is found that in the majority of cases, the nature of mediation is partial in nature. Whereas, it is found that trust in leader fully mediates the relationship between persuasive mapping and normative commitment. Furthermore, trust in leader is also found to be fully mediating the relationship between emotional healing and continuance commitment.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited to the geographical boundaries of Pakistan, results obtained during the course of study have limited generalizability outside the country.Originality/valueThis paper aims at addressing a gap in the literature by developing a model of how trust in leader mediates the relationship between servant leadership and organizational commitment, and examine relationship between individual dimensions of servant leadership and organizational commitment.

To achieve the quality of educational services that is in line with national standards, school principals must implement an approach. School principals are expected to be able to achieve educational goals in an effective and efficient manner. Being able to encourage the organization's human resources, teaching staff, school employees and students to complete their respective responsibilities is a form of school principal leadership. To move parts of the organization, an approach is needed that is appropriate to the education system, namely the helper leader style. This study was conducted using a qualitative approach. The research was conducted through interviews with school principals as respondents, and the results were adjusted to theoretical analysis from literature data. Data reduction techniques, such as analyze, select, and discard, support the veracity of this data. The research results show that there are six servant leadership models, namely: Value people, develop people, build community, display authentic, provide leadership, and share leadership. And the characteristics of servant leadership: listening, fulfilling, empathy, healing, self-awareness, persuasion and conceptualization. ABSTRAKUntuk mencapai kualitas layanan pendidikan yang sesuai dengan taraf nasional, kepala sekolah harus menerapkan pendekatan. Kepala sekolah diharapkan dapat mencapai tujuan pendidikan dengan cara yang efektif dan efisien. Mampu mendorong sumber daya manusia organisasi tenaga pendidik, karyawan sekolah, dan siswa untuk menyelesaikan tanggung jawabnya masing-masing adalah bentuk kepemimpinan kepala sekolah. Untuk menggerakkan bagian-bagian organisasi, diperlukan pendekatan yang sesuai dengan sistem pendidikan, yaitu gaya pemimpin pembantu. Studi ini dilakukan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Penelitian dilakukan melalui wawancara dengan kepala sekolah sebagai responden, dan hasilnya disesuaikan dengan analisis teori dari data kepustakaan. Teknik reduksi data, seperti menganalisis, memilih, dan membuang, mendukung kebenaran data ini. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa terdapat enam model servant leadership yaitu: Value people, develop people, build community, display authentic, provide leadership, dan share leadership. Dan karakteristik servant leadership: mendengarkan, memenuhi, empati, penyembuhan, kesadaran diri, persuasi dan konseptualisasi.

بحثت هذه الدراسة درجةمساهمة القيادة الخادمة في تحقيق الثقة التنظيمية لقادة المدارس الثانوية بمحافظتي حوطة بني تميم والحريق من وجهة نظر المعلمينمن خلال الأبعاد التالية ( التمکين , الإيثار, التواضع), واستخدم المنهج الوصفي المسحي,وطبق على مجتمع الدراسة والذي غطى (8) مدارس ثانوية وعدد(115) معلما حيث وزع استبيان تناول ثلاثة أبعاد للقيادة الخادمة ( التمکين , الإيثار, التواضع), والتي تم ربطها بأبعاد الثقة التنظيمية ( الثقة بإدارة المنظمة , الثقة بزملاء العمل, الثقة بالمشرفين). - وتوصلت الدراسة إلى النتائج التالية : - جاءت إجابة السؤال الأول حول مساهمة التمکين في تحقيق الثقة التنظيمية لقادة المدارس الثانوية في محافظتي حوطة بني تميم والحريق من وجهة نظر المعلمين بمتوسط (3,75) بانحراف معياري (0,93)، وهذا المتوسط يعني أن درجة توافر جميع عبارات السؤال الأول معا عالية. - جاء ت إجابة السؤال الثاني حول درجة مساهمة الإيثار في تحقيق الثقة التنظيمية لقادة المدارس الثانوية في محافظتي حوطة بني تميم والحريق من وجهة نظر المعلمين بمتوسط (4,04) بانحراف معياري (0,88)، وهذا المتوسط يعني أن درجة توافر جميع عبارات السؤال الثالث معا عالية. -جاءت إجابة السؤال الثالث حول درجة مساهمة التواضع في تحقيق الثقة التنظيمية لقادة المدارس الثانوية بمحافظتي حوطة بني تميم والحريق بمتوسط (4,24) بانحراف معياري (0,78)، وهذا المتوسط يعني أن درجة توافر جميع عبارات السؤال الثالث معا عالية جدا. أبرز توصيات الدراسة : - حث قادة المدارس الثانوية في المملکة العربية السعودية على تبني ممارسات القيادة الخادمة من خلال الإبعاد المذکورة في الدراسة. - عقد دروات تدريبية وورش عمل لتطبيقات القيادة الخادمة لقادة المدراس الثانوية. - إحداث أنظمة للحوافز المالية والمادية والتي تعزز من ممارسات القادة لتطبيقات القيادة الخادمة في المدارس الثانوية. This study examined the contribution of the servant leadership in achieving the organizational trust of the high school leaders in the governorates of Houta Bani Tamim and Al Heraiq from the point of view of the teachers through the following dimensions (empowerment, altruism, humility), and applied the descriptive descriptive method. And a number of (115) teachers distributed a questionnaire dealing with three dimensions of servant leadership (empowerment, altruism, modesty), which were linked to the dimensions of organizational trust (trust in the management of the organization, confidence in work colleagues, confidence in supervisors). The study reached the following results: - The answer to the first question about the contribution of empowerment in achieving the organizational trust of secondary school leaders in the governorates of Houta Bani Tamim and Al Heraiq from the point of view of the teachers averaged (3.75) with a standard deviation (0.93). This means that the degree of availability of all the question terms The first together is high. -The answer to the second question about the degree of the contribution of altruism in achieving the organizational trust of high school leaders in the governorates of Houta Bani Tamim and Al Heraiq from the point of view of the teachers averaged 4,04 by standard deviation (0.88). This means that the degree of availability of all The three question phrases together are high. - The answer to the third question about the degree of contribution of modesty in achieving the organizational trust of secondary school leaders in the governorates of Houta Bani Tamim and Al Heraiq with an average of (4,24) with a standard deviation (0.78). This means that the degree of availability of all three question terms together is very high . The main recommendations of the study are: - Urge high school leaders in Saudi Arabia to adopt the leadership practices of the servants through the exclusion mentioned in the study. - Holding training courses and workshops for leadership applications for secondary school leaders. - Creating financial and material incentive systems that enhance leadership practices for high school leadership applications.

Purpose Psychological safety is coming under increased scrutiny as a concept that can help improve outcomes for service users in health and social care settings by improving the willingness of employees to speak up, by involving them in decision-making, sharing knowledge and engaging in innovative practices based on the shared belief that it is safe to do so without risk of consequences. The aim of this study, is to examine the role of servant leadership in developing psychological safety in a social care organisation. Design/methodology/approach The methodological approach used for this study was a cross sectional, qualitative inquiry, with semi-structured interviews (n = 8), using a purposive sample. Codes were extracted from the data and analysed using content analysis. Findings The results illustrate how providing servant leadership training to an entire organisation may help to foster psychological safety. Findings are discussed across three themes; 1) experience of servant leadership training; 2) examples of cultivating psychological safety; 3) the role of power in developing psychologically safe organisations. The findings provide information on how servant leadership training can support leaders in developing the skills and insight to engage in minimising power distance, and by involving employees in shared decision-making through the flattening of hierarchies, in addition to feeling psychologically safe when giving and receiving feedback about work practices. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first qualitative study to examine how delivering servant leadership training can help foster psychological safety in a social care organisation. Findings are discussed with implications for practice, training and future research.

This study examines the comparative effectiveness of transformational, transactional, and servant leadership styles in fostering knowledge-sharing behaviors and optimizing knowledge management (KM) in knowledge- intensive organizations (KIOs). Given the critical role of knowledge as an organizational asset, leadership is a key determinant in shaping KM effectiveness. Through a qualitative comparative approach, this research synthesizes existing literature to assess how different leadership styles influence KM practices, knowledge-sharing culture, and organizational competitiveness. Findings indicate that transformational leadership is the most effective in fostering an innovation-driven and collaborative knowledge-sharing environment. By emphasizing vision-setting, motivation, and trust-building, transformational leaders encourage knowledge exchange and drive organizational adaptability. Transactional leadership, while ensuring structured and compliance-driven KM practices, is less adaptable to dynamic knowledge environments. Servant leadership, which prioritizes psychological safety and trust-based knowledge-sharing, is effective in enhancing voluntary knowledge-sharing behaviors but may lack strategic direction in formalized KM settings. The study concludes that no single leadership style is universally superior for KM. Instead, a hybrid leadership approach, integrating transformational, transactional, and servant leadership elements, offers the most balanced strategy for fostering knowledge-sharing cultures. Practical recommendations include context-specific leadership training, overcoming KM barriers, and aligning leadership strategies with organizational knowledge goals. Future research should explore empirical case studies, hybrid leadership models, and the impact of digital KM transformations This research contributes to the growing discourse on leadership and KM, offering actionable insights for organizations seeking to enhance their knowledge assets, drive innovation, and sustain competitive advantage in knowledge-intensive industries.

This article aims to examine the business strategy of the Prophet Muhammad SAW. from a modern management perspective and to outline its implications for strengthening character education. Through a descriptive qualitative approach based on literature studies, this study reveals that the Prophet SAW applied business principles that include honesty, trustworthiness, partnership, courage to take risks, efficiency, and servant leadership. These principles are then analyzed comparatively with modern management theories such as business governance, risk management, and transformational leadership. The results of the study show that the Prophet SAW. applied a business strategy based on noble values, such as honesty, trustworthiness, fair partnership, efficiency in resource management, courage to take wise risks, and servant leadership. These values are then studied comparatively with modern management theories such as stakeholder theory, servant leadership, value-based management, and risk management. It was found that the Prophet's business principles have strong relevance to current management practices, while also making a significant contribution to shaping the character of entrepreneurs with integrity and ethics. Therefore, the integration of prophetic business strategies into education, especially in entrepreneurship learning, is very important to build a generation that is not only economically competent but also morally and spiritually strong.

In 2014, Indonesians were celebrating the inauguration of their newly elected president. The victory of Joko Widodo, who came from the grass roots, demonstrated a triumph of democracy in Indonesia. The rise of Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, was followed by the rise of other leaders from outside of the political mainstream, such as Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Tri Risma Harini, Nurdin Abdullah, and Yoyok Rio Sudibyo. These leaders managed to overcome the political barriers made by the oligarchs and gained voters’ trust to win major elections in Indonesia. They possess one solid reputation in common and that is a commitment to act as a servant for citizens. Furthermore, the leaders’ unique personalities and approaches have differentiated them from their rivals, even those with greater experience in politics, which suggests they have unique and strong political brands that appealed to the citizens. The objective of this research is to explain the concept of servant leadership and political outsiders in influencing candidates’ political brand image based on their personalities from the voters’ perceptions. Following this, the interplay between each construct will be analysed. To meet the research objectives, this research examines a primary research question: How do voters’ perceptions of servant leadership and political outsiders affect brand personality as the political leader’s image and subsequently influence their brand trust? This is followed by two secondary questions: Do voters see Jokowi, Ahok, and Risma as servant leaders and political outsiders? If so, how? and How much influence do servant leadership and political outsiders have on leaders’ brand personality as their brand image, and subsequently, brand trust? Using a combination of concurrent and sequential mixed methods, this research began with qualitative approaches utilising document analysis and interviews to multiple sample groups with thematic analysis. These methods were also dedicated to constructing scale development of political outsiders based on the case of Indonesian leaders. Following this, a quantitative method was employed using a survey to measure how each construct influenced brand trust with brand personality as the mediating variable. The findings revealed how the leaders were successful in their approaches and demonstrating personalities that developed the political brand of a servant leader, which arguably attracted the citizens’ trust. The leaders’ backgrounds as political outsiders provided them with an advantage that differentiated them from typical politicians in Indonesia, who were seen as ineffective in making positive changes. Finally, this study identified candidate’s desirable traits significant to voters’ trust. This research makes several contributions to the development theories of servant leadership, which is particularly significant as there is insufficient research regarding this theory in the political context. The study further contributes to political marketing theories, particularly in branding theories such as how leadership brand influences candidate’s brand personality and consequently to brand trust. It also provides insights into how the leadership brand of servant leader and political outsider may affect voters’ trust consideration and impact candidate’s brand image development based on their brand personalities during elections.

서번트 리더십은 부하 직원들에 대한 공감, 경청, 그리고 존중을 바탕으로 그들의 잠재력 및 성장 가능성에 초점을 맞추어 이끌어 나가는 리더십 형태를 의미한다. 이 서번트 리더십은 구성원들의 다양한 인식, 태도, 그리고 행동들에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 알려져 왔다. 특히, 서번트 리더십은 구성원들의 이직의도를 낮춘다고 보고되어 왔다. 그런데 서번트 리더십과 이직의도 사이의 관계에 대한 선행 연구들은 서번트 리더십이 어떤 작동 기제를 거쳐서 이직의도에 영향을 미치는지, 그리고 그 과정에서 조절하는 변인은 무엇인지에 대해 충분히 밝히지 못한 부분이 있다. 그래서 본 연구에서는 서번트 리더십과 이직의도 사이의 관계에서 상사신뢰의 매개 효과와 성인애착의 조절 효과를 살펴보았다. 연구에서 수립한 가설들을 검증하기 위하여 온라인 설문조사를 실시하였으며 횡단 연구의 한계점을 보완하기 위하여 세 시점에 걸쳐 확보한 설문 자료를 분석해 활용했다. 가설들에 대한 검증 결과는 다음과 같다. 서번트 리더십은 상사신뢰에 정(+)의 영향을 미쳤고, 상사신뢰는 이직의도에 부(-)의 영향을 미쳤다. 그리고 상사신뢰는 서번트 리더십과 이직의도 사이의 관계를 매개하는 것으로 확인되었다. 마지막으로 개인의 특성을 보여주는 성인애착 불안과 회피가 서번트 리더십이 상사신뢰에 미치는 영향력을 부적(-)으로 조절하였다. 본 연구를 통하여 서번트 리더십이 상사신뢰에 영향을 주어 부하직원의 이직의도를 낮출 수 있음을 확인하였고, 리더와 팔로워 사이의 관계에서 팔로워의 개인적 특성이나 성향이 결정적인 영향을 미칠 수 있음을 확인하였다. 이 결과를 통해, 리더십을 통해 이직의도를 줄이기 위해서는 구성원들의 상사신뢰 수준 뿐만 아니라 성인애착 특성을 적절하게 고려해야 한다는 것을 알 수 있다.

We propose and test the idea that trust in the senior leadership team is needed to help overcome the potential widespread decrements to employee well‐being resulting from the Covid‐19 pandemic. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we suggest that psychological capital mediates the relationship between trust in the senior leadership team's response to Covid‐19 and employee well‐being. We also examine the contextual relevance of line management's servant leadership alongside country differences (i.e., India vs. UK) in reinforcing the importance of trust in fostering psychological capital. We test our model in a time‐lagged survey study that follows employed individuals towards the early, middle, and later stages of the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. Results provide support for our model and indicate potential country differences. Our findings point to the significance of leadership, both at the senior level and at the line management level, in protecting employee well‐being during crises.

COVID-19, leadership and lessons from physics.

Objective: The paper offers an analysis and definition of the concept of leadership in the light of current socio-economic trends. The following research questions were posed: “How is leadership understood?” and “What elements comprise its definition?”. The definitions of leadership place the term in a range of categories: as a characteristic, a behaviour, a process, a role relationship, or a position in an organisational structure. It has been analysed through multiple paradigms, including classical, transactional, transformational, situational, and service leadership. It is not clear at present which definition is dominant, nor which research methods have been used to determine its constituent elements.Research Design & Methods: A critical and systematic literature review covering publications that appeared in the years 2010–2020; 55 full-text indexed publications were analysed from the Scopus database.Findings: The research draws together and organises definitions of leadership that have appeared in the last 10 years in the publications indexed from the Scopus database. The authors also put forward their own definition of leadership from the perspective of management and quality sciences.Implications / Recommendations: Organising the definition of leadership allows the authors to understand the diversity and complexity which have a positive impact on building, strengthening and developing leadership. The study also brings to light areas and directions for further research, e.g. in the gender of managers or discrepancies in the perception of leadership resulting from publications from various geographic and cultural regions.Contribution: Arranging the existing definitions of leadership and its components from the perspective of management and quality sciences; demonstrating that a qualitative approach is increasingly used in leadership research.

Rural infrastructure development requires community involvement as an essential component of participatory and accountable governance. This study analyzes the forms of community participation in Takatunga Village, the factors influencing it, and its relationship with village financial management, particularly the use of Village Funds for infrastructure development. Using a qualitative descriptive approach through interviews, observations, and document analysis, the findings show that participation primarily takes the form of labor contributions during the implementation stage, while involvement in planning and evaluation remains limited. Key barriers include low self-confidence, time constraints due to agricultural activities, and insufficient information dissemination. Although social capital—such as mutual cooperation and trust in local leaders—encourages community engagement, financial management remains top-down, preventing social capital from being integrated into budgeting processes. The study highlights the need to strengthen deliberation forums, improve community budget literacy, and enhance transparency to promote more substantive participation in village infrastructure development.

Over the years, in South Africa, there has been an increase in the number of transgressions in the public service. Instances have been reported where leaders were involved in unethical behaviour and unduly influencing supply chain-related decisions that would personally benefit them. Corrupt activities that have been reported range from unlawfully awarding tenders, spending public funds on incomplete projects, inflating prices, tender rigging, ghost employees, disbursing funds to non-compliant suppliers or for work not delivered, maladministration, illegal use of state resources, conflict of interest, theft, embezzlement of public funds and bribery. Such transgressions are often linked to a lack of ethical conduct and professionalism of leaders in the public service. The President of South Africa lamented about the extent of poor ethics and unprofessionalism of the public service, which can therefore be seen as a crisis and an opportunity to change the status quo. Advancing honesty, ethics and integrity in the public service is critical if we are to build a capable state. The South African government is concerned about the high levels of corruption in the public service. A high standard of professional ethics is therefore an essential matter that needs urgent attention. The aim of this study is to determine the role of coaching in developing ethical leaders to professionalise the public service. The study follows a qualitative approach. The findings of the study will benefit the public service by providing in-depth knowledge on how coaching can be used to promote ethical leadership and professionalise the public service.

Purpose– This research covers a rather unexplored area of customer relationship management (CRM) by questioning the mechanism between on the one hand the Pareto-principle and on the other hand traditional non-IT supported operational CRM processes. Thus, the paper aims to explore whether a minority of processes and process-aspects deserves credit for achieving a majority of CRM goals.Design/methodology/approach– A qualitative approach is the most appropriate due to the assumption that access to the reality of a situation is only possible through social construction. A qualitative approach seeks to answer questions posed by studying different social settings. As noted by Berg, qualitative techniques make it possible for researchers to participate in understanding and perceiving others, as well as permitting them to discover how people structure their daily lives to make them more meaningful.Findings– The questioned mechanism of on the one hand traditional non-IT supported operational CRM process-aspects and on the other hand the Pareto-principle is confirmed by the majority of interviewees who answered affirmatively to small things making big differences in customer contact.Research limitations/implications– Regarding the limitations of this study, the results are hard to generalise as the research context depends on a single case study. However, the high levels of detail that allows for greater insight into manufacturing SMEs in HGV-Trailer that want to adopt non-IT support operational CRM where there is lack of financial resources justify the choice of this case study.Practical implications– This study is important for management to focus and develop social on top of technical competencies. This was clear from the importance of social intercourse as the glue that links all the non-IT supported operational processes from break down to invoices. It helps in removing the uncertainty from the view point of customers and highlights the importance of the care that companies need to give to the human side of the process more than objectifying things. Moreover, the finding provides an important implication for practitioners involved spare-parts purchasing process and the warranty claiming process should continuously assess whether they operate in support of a breakdown or not and subsequently use this insight to prioritize their tasks.Originality/value– This research tried to answer how the Pareto-principle applies to traditional non-IT supported operational CRM process-aspects by concluding that the first social intercourse, as well as problem ownership, belongs – from a customers' viewpoint – to the “vital few” leading to “trivial many” results of rational and emotional nature. This is especially true in the breakdown process, and processes that operate in support of breakdowns.