Servant leadership and job satisfaction in upper secondary schools

Abstract

It is important that management and leadership of upper secondary schools facilitate the success and wellbeing of staff members as well as that of students. Servant leadership is a philosophy of communication, management and leadership first presented by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970. Servant leadership is considered a philosophy rather than a leadership style or a leadership theory as the servant leader is, in principle, a focused leader practicing different leadership methods given the situation and context. Servant leadership focuses on shared accountability, self-knowledge and mutual support and is practiced by a balance of being a servant and a leader. Open communication and trust are cornerstones of servant leadership where shared responsibility and consensus are essential for successful strategy and decision making. The servant leader is first among equals and he or she is trained in balancing being a servant and a leader demonstrated by, for example, humility in communication and clear accountability. There are many indications from previous research in various international settings that point to the usefulness of servant leadership. Focus on servant leadership in organizations has been linked to job satisfaction, successful teamwork, trust and the prevention of burnout among staff. Previous research concerning servant leadership in education has shown significant links between servant leadership among school managers and job satisfaction among staff. Servant leadership of school managers has also been linked to intrinsic motivation among teachers. Few studies are available about servant leadership in the Icelandic educational system. Based on evidence from previous studies suggesting the advantages of servant leadership it was decided to investigate the level of servant leadership among upper secondary school staff and the link to job satisfaction. A questionnaire survey was conducted in seven Icelandic upper secondary schools. A new Icelandic version of Jim Laub’s instrument, the Organizational Leadership Assessment (OLA), was used to measure the level of servant leadership within different areas of the organizations and to assess job satisfaction. The questionnaire includes questions on attitudes towards servant leadership as demonstrated and experienced by school management, general staff and the individual participant. Participants were all staff members; the total number of participants being 219. The majority of participants were teachers (80%), general staff, 11% and managers, 8%. Findings show that participants report the level of servant leadership being 3.25 – 3.72 on the scale of 1 to 5 which reflects that they think the characteristics of servant leadership exist to some degree within the schools. School managers reported the highest scores but teachers the lowest. Among OLA subscales receiving highest scores by all participants were the scales: values people and builds community. Lowest scores were received for the subscales: develops people and shares leadership. Participants are in general satisfied at work (85.1%). A strong positive and significant link was observed between total servant leadership scores and job satisfaction and between all servant leadership subscales and job satisfaction. Study findings are in line with previous research and provide indications that with higher levels of servant leadership within upper secondary school job satisfaction is likely to be higher. The findings provide important clues as to schools’ potential to strengthen the focus of servant leadership in some areas, namely regarding developing staff and sharing leadership. The subscale develops people is for example related to providing opportunities for people to develop to their full potential and to grow professionally, creating an environment that encourages learning and building people up through encouragement and affirmation. The subscale shares leadership covers questions referring to the leader being humble and not promoting him or herself, leading on the basis of personal influence rather than positional authority and not seeking special status or perks of leadership. According to the findings, increased focus on these two areas would strengthen servant leadership within the schools and thus be beneficial for job satisfaction among staff. The study contributes to the development of knowledge regarding servant leadership and to the discussion about successful ways to support upper secondary schools and stimulate job satisfaction among staff.