An Examination of Servant Leadership Behaviors Demonstrated by Campus
Abstract
Multiple studies have examined servant leadership behaviors, practices, and impacts in higher education institutions from the perspectives of administrators, staff, faculty, and undergraduate students. However, graduate students' views of servant leadership behaviors are still underrepresented in the literature. This qualitative case study addresses this gap by examining the servant leadership behaviors demonstrated by campus leaders at a private Christian university in the United States from graduate students' perspectives. The study's purposive sample consisted of 13 participants interviewed individually and in a focus group. The thematic analysis of individual interviews and focus group data, conducted using NVivo 14, revealed that campus leaders exhibited seven servant leadership behaviors: Emotional Healing, Putting Students First, Helping Students Grow and Succeed, Empowering Students, Creating Value for Community, Behaving Ethically, and Conceptualizing. These seven servant leadership behaviors constitute the core of the servant leadership model utilized as this study's guiding theoretical framework.