Examining the Nonprofit Leader From the Servant Leadership Theory : Impacts on Board Cohesion
Abstract
n the context of nonprofit organizations, servant leadership (SL) has been studied on a limited basis. The present study attempted to forge a new path by examining the impact of SL and cohesion in the realm of nonprofit organizations. A total of 91 board members from 32 organizations participated in the study. Five statistical models of mixed effects linear regression were used in the analysis. The first model utilized the eight subscales of SL as independent variables and overall cohesion is the dependent variable while the other four models used overall SL as the independent variable. Each model also had an independent variable that denoted whether a given respondent was the director of the board or a board member. There is strong evidence to suggest a significant linear relationship between accountability and overall board cohesion (F(1, 80) = 5.65, p = 0.0198). There is also strong evidence to suggest a significant linear relationship between humility and overall board cohesion (F(1, 80) = 18.54, p < 0.0001). There is strong evidence to suggest a significant linear relationship between overall SL and attraction to group social F(1, 87) = 7.96, p = 0.0059). There is strong evidence to suggest there is a significant linear relationship between overall SL and attraction to group task (F(1, 87) = 20.88, p < 0.0001). There is strong evidence to suggest there is a significant two-way interaction between role and group integration social (F(1, 86) = 8.05, p = 0.0057). There is not sufficient evidence to suggest there is a significant two-way interaction between role and group integration task (F(1, 86) = 0.30, p = 0.59). Overall, the use of the servant leadership theory by nonprofit executives proved to be an enhancement on overall board cohesion.
