Servant leadership: a new perspective to explore project leadership and team effectiveness

Abstract

Purpose Servant leadership is a new follower-centric style of leadership. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the project leaders’ servant leadership style on project team effectiveness via team goal clarity and team process clarity within the project-based organizational context. Design/methodology/approach A total of 58 teams working in 3 project-based organizations participated in the survey study. Team members rated their project leaders’ servant leadership style, team goal clarity and team process clarity in the project, while leaders evaluated team effectiveness. Hypotheses were tested using multi-level structural equation modeling. Findings Results suggested that servant leadership had a positive and significant impact on project team effectiveness via team goal clarity and team process clarity. Originality/value The study examined the influence of servant leadership as a team leadership approach within a project context. As a multi-level design, the study also identified the team-specific mechanisms (team goal clarity and team process clarity), which could help accomplish team effectiveness.

How Servant Leadership Drives Project Team Performance Through Collaborative Culture and Knowledge Sharing

“…The temporary nature of projects as well as the constraints of scope, time, and budget make projects a challenging context of exploring the impact of leadership in projects. Past researchers have established that positive leadership traits, including SL, lead to positive outcomes in projects (Bilal et al, 2021;Thite, 2000). Such service-oriented project leaders may inspire their followers to create a culture of collaboration and also motivate them to share knowledge among themselves.…”

“…Project teams are distinct from other types of teams due to their member composition, culture, scope, and complexity, and servant leadership in the project context needs to be tested (Ebener & O'Connell, 2010). Bilal et al (2021) also maintained in their study that servant leadership in project teams encourages open communication, which then leads to better organized team efforts and increases their commitment toward attaining team objectives. Thus, in line with the previous studies, we also anticipate that such leaders would enhance project team performance (Liden et al, 2008).…”

“…The recent shift in focus from technical to human factors has increased the emphasis on the impact of leaders in inducing teamwork and success of projects (Hauschildt et al, 2000;Srića, 2008;Sumner et al, 2006). Despite the importance of leadership style in a project context, little progress has been made in relation to measuring project team performance (Anantatmula, 2008) as most studies use leaders' self-reports of team performance (Bilal et al, 2021).…”

Environmental-specific servant leadership as a strategic tool to accomplish environmental performance: a case of China

“…They need to ensure that they are accomplishing a task as well as green goals. The project context requires high-quality teamwork and coordination between team members (Bilal, Siddiquei, Asadullah, Awan, & Asmi, 2020).…”

“…They need to ensure that they are accomplishing a task as well as green goals. The project context requires high-quality teamwork and coordination between team members (Bilal et al , 2020). The project leader's role is to ensure that every team member knows and understands its purpose, green values and shared agenda to meet ecological goals.…”