On the Horizon

Servant Leadership and Positive Organizational Behaviour: The Road Ahead to Reduce Employees’
Turnover Intentions
Sumedha Dutta Puja Khatri
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Sumedha Dutta Puja Khatri , (2017)," Servant Leadership and Positive Organizational Behaviour: The Road Ahead to
Reduce Employees’ Turnover Intentions ", On the Horizon , Vol. 25 Iss 1 pp. -
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 Servant Leadership and Positive Organizational Behaviour: The Road Ahead to Reduce
Employees’ Turnover Intentions

Introduction

Leadership is a diverse construct whose importance has been well established since ancient
times. Over the years, extensive endeavours in the field of ‘leadership’, have led to the
acknowledgement of three general assumptions about this concept. These are: a) empirical
evidence suggests that easily identifiable leadership events occur in reality; b) human and
organizational effectiveness is strongly determined by leadership and c) prediction of
leadership’s role can be explained by research and theory (Davis & Luthans, 1979).

With the passage of time, the complexion of the business environment undergoes a change.
The changed environment dictates the need to redraft the ongoing rules of business; thus
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creating a scope for exploring a new dimension to leadership. A development is the area of
leadership, which though in its nascent stage, has captured the fancy of researchers globally is
– servant leadership.

The present scenario has set the stage right for ‘servant leadership’ wherein new leaders are
needed to sketch new futures in the post – modern era. Increasing number of researchers are
presenting their works on servant leadership in various peer – reviewed journals across the
world vouching for the multi-fold benefits of this promising approach to leadership (Smith,
Montagno, & Kuzemenko, 2004; Stone, Russell, & Patterson, 2004; Dennis & Bocarnea,
2005; Humphreys, 2005, and Hamilton, 2008). Moreover, servant leadership appears to be a
one – click solution to the recent issues of corporate scams, employee burnout and retention
challenges being faced by the present organizations (Wong & Davey, 2007). Thus, the
construct of ‘servant leadership’ has gained momentum.

A servant leader focuses on ethical and modest use of power, nurtures trusting and genuine
relationship with followers and lays foundation for a supportive as well as positive work
environment (Wong & Davey, 2007). Simply speaking, a servant leader shifts attention from
processes and outcomes to people. This people – oriented approach coupled with an altruistic
element makes servant leadership a favourable style for inculcating positive behaviour among
employees. A servant leader encourages positive organizational behaviour among employees
in the workplace – is the fresh dimension that will be explored in this conceptual framework.

Positive Organizational Behaviour (POB) is one of the streams of the emerging area of
‘Positive Psychology’. David Root’s work ‘Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy’ made
room for a new field of study called ‘positive psychology’ (Lyubomirsky, 2008). Positive
psychology took off in the early 1980s as field focussing on identification and strengthening
the positive traits of an individual and thus, making a scientific move towards improving
people’s lives (Kashdan & Steger, 2011). The rewarding benefits ushering from the
application of positive psychology motivated Martin Seligman, (President, American
Psychological Association), in 1998, to launch positive psychology as an official field of
study (Ben – Shahar, 2007). The movement was further strengthened by a number of
psychologists, to state a few, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Snyder, Clifton, Anderson and

1
 Avolio. "Positive psychology seeks to help the whole person, examining and promoting
strengths and managing deficits, maintaining that human strengths are as real as human
weaknesses" (Bowers, 2008, p. 23). Simply stated, positive psychology concentrates on
what’s right with an individual rather than on what’s wrong with them. The constructs
included under the umbrella of POB are Confidence/ Self – efficacy, Hope, Optimism,
Subjective Well Being, Emotional Intelligence and Resilience.

The stiff competition enveloping the business world coupled with increasing demand of
customers, drastic technological changes has put the organizations in a very challenging
situation. Moreover, the employees believe in charting their own career path, which has
escalated the turnover intention of employees. High turnover rate has emerged as one of the
main problem paralysing the growth of organizations. In this conceptual work, the
researchers are trying to propose solutions to this immediate problem by analyzing the role of
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servant leader and positive organizational behaviour in this direction. It is believed that a
servant leader will inculcate positive organizational behaviour among employees which will
reduce their intentions to quit the organizations.

Research Methodology

An extensive and comprehensive exploratory search of available literature was undertaken on

numerous online databases to gather an inclusive list of journal articles related to servant
leadership, positive organizational behaviour and their individual relationships with other
relevant constructs. Google Scholar and online databases, to mention a few, EBSCO host,
Taylor and Francis Online, Questia, Elsevier’s Business and Emerald Management were
searched to gather relevant studies pertaining to our area of interest. To ensure that current
research paper is based on quality work, utmost care was taken to ensure access to frequently
used online databases in terms of research in the area of management and organizational
behaviour. A deliberate attempt has been made to include latest research in the field of
servant leadership and Positive Organizational Behaviour so that new dimensions can also be
clubbed along with research representing the dawn of the stated constructs.

Also, few published and unpublished dissertation and thesis work from Proquest database
were also accessed to gain significant insights.

For the present research work, articles from various journals were selected by employing the
following key terms:

Servant Leadership, Servant Leader, Positive Psychology, Positive Organizational Behaviour,

Positive Organizational Behaviour constructs and their organizational outcomes,
Determinants of Turnover Intention, etc. Sufficient time was allotted for reviewing research
available on the area of servant leadership and its dimensions.

The present work is organized in the following pattern: Literature review regarding servant
leadership, POB and turnover intentions, their definitions and measurement is discussed
initially. The definitions and dimensions presented by various authors are explored; a

2
 comprehensive view of the studies conducted in the stated areas is presented; the various
tools measuring these constructs are also discussed. After this, the reaping benefits of these
constructs in organizational settings are examined. Towards the end, the researchers drew
conclusion and identified avenues for future research in these domains.

Literature Review

Conceptualizing Servant Leadership

The theories of leadership have sailed across many development posts; originally focussed on
traits, moved towards behavioural style of leaders (behavioural theories) to analysing the
nuances of the situations (contingency theories) to more contemporary approaches including
servant leadership. Servant and Leader, usually considered as being opposites, were
deliberately brought together in a meaningful manner by Robert K. Greenleaf to give birth to
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the paradoxical term ‘servant leadership’.

Greenleaf’s thought provoking essay in 1970 has led numerous scholars and practitioners to
embrace the concept of servant leadership owing to its unique perspective to the leadership
literature. Servant leadership is differentiated from previously well-established theories of
leadership as it is centred on the leader as a servant. Servant leadership is about the leader
being servant first (Greenleaf, 1977). Also, servant leader is a unique style wherein focus of
the leader is on the follower rather than the organization (Winston, 2004). Most of the earlier
leadership theories are behaviourally based, while servant leadership stems from a leader’s
principles, values and beliefs (Walker, 2003).

Though Greenleaf’s initial work on servant leadership has been refined; however the essence
of the theory has not lost its sheen. An ethical use of power helps servant leader in cultivating
trust in employees. A servant leader guides his replacement, making the subordinates
increasingly autonomous and wise (Greenleaf, 1977). Through cultivation trust and ethical
use of power, a servant leader considers serving the society as the prime responsibility and
then views leadership as a medium to achieve and surpass organization’s mission and
obligations towards stakeholders. Greenleaf (1977) states “the test of leadership is to see if
followers became “healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to
become servants” (p. 35).

Arlene Hall (1991) defines servant leader as one “who invests himself or herself in enabling
others, in helping them be and do their best" (p.14). Patterson (2003) defined servant leaders
as “leaders who lead an organization by focussing on their followers, such that the followers
are the primary concern and the organizational concerns are peripheral”. In 2004, Northouse
defined servant leader as “a strong altruistic ethical overtone which emphasizes leaders being
attentive to the concerns of their followers; they should take care of them and nurture them
and in return they will take care of the leaders.” The leader takes complete onus for the
follower’s results. An individual assumes the role of a servant and then becomes a leader
(Northouse, 2004). Servant leadership is seen as a belief that assisting the growth,
development and overall well being of organizational employees will contribute towards the
attainment of organizational goals on a long term basis (Stone et al.2004). A servant leader

3
 makes the dynamics of power and control, the fundamental blocks of traditional leadership
styles, secondary by shifting authority to those who are being led. Efforts to fortify the
relationships of trust within the organizational ladder emerge as the primary concern of a
servant leader (Perry & Mankin, 2007). It has been defined as a leadership style which
transcends self- interest aiming to serve the other’s needs by helping them develop
professionally as well as personally (Lussier & Achua, 2007 as cited in Carder 2012).

An authentic desire to serve others for the common good lies at the very heart of servant
leadership. In other words, in servant leadership, self – interest paves way for shared human
development. Thus, a servant leader is a leader whose principal purpose for leading is to
serve others by working towards the followers’ development and well being for the benefit of
achieving organizational objectives for the common good. A servant leader motivates the
followers by investing in them and empowering them to give in their best.
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Table 1: Summary of definitions of Servant Leadership

Year & Definition Title Publication

Author (s)
Greenleaf “The servant leader is servant The Servant as The servant as a
(1970) first...It begins with the natural Leader leader.
feeling that one wants to serve, Indianapolis, IN:
to serve first. Then conscious Greenleaf Center.
choice brings one to aspire to
lead.”
Arlene Hall A servant leader is one who Why a Great Leader In K. Hall Living
(1991) invests himself or herself in Leadership:
enabling others, in helping Biblical Leadership
them be and do their best. Speaks to Our Day.
Anderson, IN:
Warner Press, (14).
Larry Spears …”A new kind of leadership Reflections on Leadership &
(1996) model – a model which puts Robert K. Greenleaf Organization
serving others as the number and servant- Development
one priority. Servant- leadership Journal, Vol.
leadership emphasizes 17(7), pp. 33-35.
increased service to others; a
holistic approach to work;
promoting a sense of
community; and the sharing of
power in decision-making.”
Patterson Leaders who lead an Servant Leadership: Unpublished
(2003) organization by focussing on A Theoretical Model doctoral

4
 their followers, such that the dissertation, Regent
followers are the primary University,
concern and the organizational Virginia Beach,
concerns are peripheral. VA.
Northouse A strong altruistic ethical Leadership Theory Thousand Oaks,
(2004) overtone which emphasizes and Practice (3e) CA: Sage
leaders being attentive to the Publications, Inc.
concerns of their followers;
they should take care of them
and nurture them and in return
they will take care of the
leaders.
Stone, A.G., Servant leadership “is a belief Transformational Leadership &
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Russell, R.F. that organizational goals will leadership versus Organization

and be achieved on a long term servant leadership: a Development
Patterson, K. basis only by first facilitating difference in focus. Journal, 25(4),
(2004) the growth, development and 349-61.
general well-being of the
individuals who comprise the
organization”
Lussier & It is a “leadership style that The relationship Unpublished Ph.D
Achua transcends self-interest to serve between servant Thesis. Indiana
(2007) the needs of others by helping leadership and Wesleyan
them grow professionally and affective University. UMI
personally” organizational Number 3602281
commitment.

Measuring Servant Leadership

An absence of a precise definition of servant leadership by Greenleaf generated various

interpretations exemplifying a wide range of behaviours. Though the available work on
servant is a potpourri of different literature styles ranging from books to journals, popular
press to research; yet there is sufficient consistency in the literature making it possible to
discern characteristics or attributes of such leaders. In the past 10 -15 years, numerous models
(Table 2) have been offered to describe servant leadership and its constructs (DePree, 1993,
Spears, 1998; Farling, et al, 1999; Page & Wong, 2000; Sendjaya & Sarros, 2002; Russell &
Stone, 2002; Patterson, 2003; Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006; Sendjaya, Sarros & Santora, 2008;
Liden, Wayne, Zhao, & Henderson, 2008).

Larry Spears (1998) gave ten characteristics of servant leaders – listening, healing, empathy,
healing, awareness, foresight, conceptualization, persuasion, stewardship, commitment and
building society. A conceptual model consisting of six characteristics of servant leadership –
develops people, values people, displays authenticity, builds community, provides leadership

5
 and shares leadership was developed by Laub (1999). Humility, integrity, servant –hood,
caring, empowering and developing others, visioning, goal setting, modeling, teambuilding,
leading and shared decision making, are the servant leader’s attributes as identified by Page
& Wong (2000). Russell & Stone (2002) stated the attributes of servant leader as Listening,
integrity, honesty, credibility, vision, modeling, pioneering, persuasion, communication,
appreciation, competence, trust, empowerment, delegation, encouragement, service,
stewardship, influence and visibility. A model comprising of seven attributes of servant
leader was put forth by Patterson (2003) – humility, altruism, agapao love, trust, vision,
service and empowerment. Behaving ethically, forming relationships with followers,
empowering and helping followers to prosper and succeed, conceptualization, putting interest
of subordinates first and generating values for those external to the organization; are the
major behaviours displayed by a servant leader, Ehrhart, 2004 . Liden et al listed emotional
healing, empowering, conceptual skills, creating value for community, helping subordinates
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grow and succeed, behaving ethically and placing subordinates first. Parolini (2005)
identified valuing people, forming relations, authentic community, providing and sharing
leadership as the main tenets of a servant leader. Barbuto and Wheeler (2006) put forth five
dimensions of servant leadership, which includes organizational stewardship, altruistic
calling, persuasive mapping, emotional healing and wisdom. The framework proposed and
developed in this paper rests on the dimensions given by Barbuto & Wheeler.

Every listed tenets of servant leadership can be derived solely from the selfless, “others-
directed” motivation residing within the leader. This base demarks servant leader from other
leaders. According to Smith et al. (2004), “Typically, models of leadership do not begin with
an analysis of leader motivation, and Greenleaf’s concepts in this regard are unique” (p. 82).
Greenleaf (1997) stated that the servant leadership model lays attention on “increased service
to others; a holistic approach to work; promoting a sense of community; and the sharing of
power in decision making" (p.4). Driven by character and values servant leaders selflessly
work towards performance and process improvement. Servant leaders take accountability for
what they do and they strongly ‘walk the talk’. Organizational objectives are attained by them
by nurturing a spirit of community, working towards the common good, considering work as
a partnership of service and applying effective stewardship of services (Page & Wong, 2000)

Specifically, a servant leader integrates the ideals of empowerment, participatory

management, team building, total quality and service orientation into the philosophy of
leadership. Thus, we can see that numerous attributes of servant leadership have been
identified by various scholars. For example, Stephen Covey (1998, p. xvii) wrote: "If you
really want to get servant-leadership, then you've got to have institutionalization of the
principles at the organizational level and foster trust through individual character and
competence at the personal level. Once you have trust, then you lead people by coaching,
empowerment, persuasion, example, and modeling. That is servant-leadership."

6
 Table 2 - Dimensions of Servant Leadership

AUTHORS
DIMENSIONS

Honesty DePree(1993 Farling et al. Page & Russell & Patterson(2002 Covey
); (1999); Kouzes Wong(20 Stone(2002); ); Rinehart (1996);
Fairholm & Posner 00) Nair (1994); (1998);
(1998); (1993); Pollard Winston
(1996); (1999)
Integrity Covey Fairholm (1998); Kouzes Nair (1994); Rinehart Page &
(1996); & Posner Pollard (1998); Wong
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Russell & (1993); (1996); Winston (2000)

Stone (2002) (1999)
Service Covey Fairholm (1997); Kouzes Nair (1994); Pollard (1996); Russell &
(1990); Ford (1991); & Posner Neuschel Rinehart Stone
DePree(1997 Greenleaf (1993); (1998); (1998); (2002;
); (1977); Patterson
(2003)
Modeling Covey Briner & Kouzes Malphurs Pollard (1996); Page &
(1990); Pritchard (1998); & Posner (1996); Wong
DePree(1992 Russell & Stone (1993); Miller (2000)
); (2002) (1995);

Vulnerability DePree(1993
)
Pioneering Covey Greenleaf Kouzes Melrose Neuschel Russell &
(1996); (1980); & Posner (1997); (1998); Stone
(1993); Miller (2002)
(1995);
Nair (1994);
Appreciation of Autry Covey (1990); Kouzes Greenleaf Pollard (1996); Russell &
Others (2001); & Posner (1977); Winston Stone
(1993); (1999) (2002)
Discernment DePree(1993
)
Awareness of DePree(1993 Spears(1998)
human spirit )
Courage in DePree(1993
relationships )
Sense of humour DePree(1993
)

7
 Intellectual energy DePree(1993 Barbuto &
& curiosity/) Wheeler
Wisdom (2006)
Respect for the DePree(1993
future )
Regard for the DePree(1993
present )
Understanding of DePree(1993
the past )
Predictability DePree(1993
)
Breath DePree(1993
)
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Comfort with DePree(1993

ambiguity )
Presence DePree(1993
)
Listening Spears(1998) Russell & Greenlea Kouzes & Neuschel Roberts
Stone(2002) f (1977) Posner (1998) (1987)
(1993)
Empathy/Caring Spears(1998) Page &
Wong(2000)
Healing Spears(1998) Barbuto & Lide
Wheeler n et.
(2006) al.(2
005)
Persuasion Spears(1998) Russell & Stone
(2002)
Conceptualization Spears(1998) Ehrhart (2004) Liden et
al (2005)
Foresight/Vision Spears(1998) Farling et Page & Russell & Patterson(2003 Patterson &
; Covey al.(1999); Wong(20 Stone(2002); ); Melrose Winston(20
(1996); Fairholm (1998); 00) Malphurs (1995); 03)
DePree Ford (1991); (1996); Miller(1995);
(1997); Greenleaf Neuschel
(1977); (1998);
Stewardship/ Greenleaf Farling et Page & Russell & Patterson(2002 Barbuto &
Servanthood (1997); al.(1999) Wong(20 Stone(2002); ); Wheeler
Spears(1998) DePree(1997); 00) Gaston(1987) Patterson & (2006)
Fairholm (1998); ; Winston
Nix (1997) (2003)

8
 Commitment to the Spears(1998) Laub (1999) Page & Liden et. Ehrhart (2004)
growth / Wong(20 al.(2005)
development of 00)
people
Building Greenleaf Spears(199 Laub Page & Liden et. Ehrhart
Community (1997) 8) (1999) Wong(2000) al.(2005) (2004)
Influence/ Farling et Barbuto & Sendjaya Russell &
Persuasive mapping al.(1999) Wheeler et. Stone (2002)
(2006) al(2008)
Trust Farling et Russell & Patterson Patterson & Covey (1990); Fairholm
al.(1999); Stone(2002); (2003) Winston(200 DePree (1998);Ford
Greenleaf Kouzes & 3); (1997); (1991);
(1997); Posner (1993); Melrose Neuschel
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(1995); (1998);
Miller(1995);
Humility Page & Patterson &
Wong(2000) Winston(2003)
Agapao Love Patterson &
Winston(200
3)
Empowerment Patterson & Covey (1990); Ford Kouzes & Melrose Rinehart
Winston(200 DePree (1989); (1991); Posner (1997); (1998).
3) Fairholm (1998) Russell (1993); Miller (1995); Page &
Patterson Liden et al & Stone Ehrhart Pollard (1996) Wong
(2003) (2005) (2002) (2004) (2000)
Holistic Approach Greenleaf
(1997)
Power sharing Greenleaf
(1997)
Leading Page &
Wong(2000)
Team building Page &
Wong(2000)
Shared decision Page &
making Wong(2000)
Delegation Russell & Covey (1990) Fairholm Melrose Neuschel Pollard
Stone(2002) (1997) (1997) (1998) (1996)
Communication Melrose Neuschel (1998) Nix Russell &
(1997); (1997) Stone (2002)
Credibility Kouzes & McKeena (1989) Neuschel Russell &
Posner (1998) Stone (2002)
(1993);
Competence DePree Fairholm (1998) Greenlea Russell &

9
 (1989); f (1997)Stone (2002)
Visibility Cedar (1987) Kouzes & Melrose Russell &
Posner (1993) (1995) Stone (2002)
Influence Covey Greenleaf (1977) Malphur Kouzes & Russell &
(1990) s (1996)Posner Stone (2002)
(1995)
Persuasion Covey DePree (1977) Russell Greenleaf
(1990) & Stone (1980)
(2002)
Encouragement Nix (1997) Pollard (1996) Spears Russell &
(1998) Stone (2002)
Teaching Fairholm Ford (1991); Pollard
(1998) Neuschel (1998) (1996);
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Rinehart
(1998)
Values people Laub (1999) Parolini (2005)
Displaying Laub (1999) Parolini (2005)
authenticity
Providing Laub (1999) Parolini (2005)
Leadership
Sharing Leadership Laub (1999) Parolini (2005)
Goal setting Page &
Wong
(2000)
Altruism Patterson Barbuto &
(2003) Wheeler
(2006)
Behaving Ethically Ehrhart Liden et al
(2004) (2005)
Forming Ehrhart Parolini (2005)
relationships with (2004)
followers
Putting Ehrhart Liden et al
subordinates first (2004) (2005)

Effectiveness of Servant Leadership

Patterson & Winston (2003) developed an integrated model showing causal relationships
between variables and also provided a process model of servant leadership. Particularly, the
Patterson-Winston model depicted that the servant-led followers displayed a higher level of
commitment towards their leader vis-a-vis the non-servant led followers. Interestingly, Drury
(2004) in her study of administrative employees and faculty at a single college practicing the
values of servant leadership reported a negative correlation between servant leadership and

10
 organizational commitment. A study on Church educational system conducted by Anderson
(2005) reported a strong correlation between perceptions of servant leadership and job
satisfaction. A breakthrough aspect was given by Irving (2006) when he empirically
conducted a study in a U.S. division of an international non-profit organization, establishing a
relationship between servant leadership at individual level and team effectiveness.

A servant leader establishes a healthy, diverse and sound organizational culture since it
heavily rests on trust, relationship building and genuinely valuing people (Sarkus, 1996).
Moreover, as stated by Greenleaf (1998), servants that are chosen to be leaders receive
support from their employees because they (servant leaders) have proved their commitment
and reliability. This encourages to followers to take their performance to the next level.

Servant leader is ‘primus inter pares’ (i.e., first among equals; Greenleaf, 1970). They don’t
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exercise their power for task execution and go beyond self interest. They are motivated by the
need to serve and not the need for power (Luthans & Avolio, 2003). Servant leaders love
their followers unconditionally, sincerely appreciate and care for them (Russell, 2001;
Russell & Stone, 2002). This noble style of leadership teaches that humans have value in
their own right (Wagner-Marsh & Conley; 1999).

Positive Psychology

After World War II, a change in the focus of psychology from identifying deficiencies and
curing illness to making the lives of people worth living and meaningful, paved the way for a
promising branch of science, ‘positive psychology’. Over the last 15 years, the emerging field
of positive psychology; popularized by Martin E. Seligman in the year 1998, has shown
remarkable growth.

At the subjective level, positive psychology is concerned with positive subjective experience:
comfort and contentment with the past; flow and happiness in the present and having faith,
hope and optimism for future. At the individual level, this promising field focuses on positive
personal traits, such as, capacity for love, courage, perseverance, forgiveness, wisdom, and
originality. At the group / institutional level, we have civic virtues, civility, responsibility,
tolerance, moderation and work ethic (Gillham & Seligman, 1999; Seligman &
Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). In specific terms, we can say that positive psychology includes in
its ambit an array of constructs that helps an individual to lead a blissful and successful life.
Positive psychology is, thus, a study of how human beings prosper amidst hard-ships
(Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). To date, two significant parallel yet complementary
developments have taken place in the field of positive psychology, they are:

• Positive Organizational Behaviour (POB) – The POB approach, propounded by

Luthans, Youssef, Avolio, Nelson, Cooper and Wright (2002a), studies the human
behaviour at the micro or individual level. Its primary focus is on those set of
individual’s psychological states and strengths augmenting employees’ performance
in organizational settings.

11
 • Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS)- In 2003, a movement called positive
organizational scholarship initiated by Cameron, Caza, Dutton and Quinn. POS
works at the macro level and focuses on workplace and work accomplishments related
outcomes. It includes trait – like capabilities, such as compassion, forgiveness,
courage, flow, virtuousness, etc, unlike state like capabilities of POB.

Out of the two above stated complementary movements, the present research’s framework is
built on the state like capabilities of POB.

Table 3: Summary of definitions of Positive Psychology

Year & Author Definition Title Publication

(s)
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Seligman & Positive psychology “is about Positive American

Csikszentmihalyiidentifying and nurturing Psychology: An Psychologist, Vol.
(2000) their (people) strongest Introduction 55(1), pp. 5-14.
qualities, what they own and
are best at, and helping them
find niches in which they can
best put out these strengths”
(p.6)
Sheldon & King Positive Psychology is Why positive American
(2001) “nothing more than the psychology is Psychologist, Vol.
scientific study of ordinary necessary? 56, pp. 216 –217.
human strengths and virtues,”
one that “revisits the average
person” (pp. 216)
Seligman (2002) Positive psychology Authentic New York, NY:
movement “as the study of Happiness: Using Free Press.
what constitutes the pleasant the New Positive
life, the engaged life and the Psychology to
meaningful life” Realize your
Potential for
Lasting Fulfilment.
Gable, Shelly L., Positive psychology is the What (and Why) Is Review of General
Haidt, Jonathan study of the conditions and Positive Psychology, Vol.
(2005). processes that contribute to Psychology? 9(2). pp. 103-110.
the flourishing or optimal
functioning of people,
groups, and institutions.

12
 Lyubomirsky, Positive psychology is “a The How of London: Sphere
Sonja (2007) commitment to the sources of Happiness
psychological wellness, such
as positive emotions, positive
experiences, positive
environments, and human
strengths and virtues.
Robert Biswas- Positive Psychology is a Happiness: Wiley Publisher
Diener, Ed. “science that brings the many Unlocking the
(2008) virtues of science – mysteries of
replication, controlled causal psychological
studies, peer review, wealth.
representative sampling (to
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name a few) – to bear on the

question of how and when
people flourish.”
--- “Positive Psychology is the --- Positive Psychology
scientific study of the Center, University
strengths and virtues that of Pennsylvania
enable individuals and
communities to thrive”

Positive Organizational Behaviour (POB)

The incessant efforts by Luthans since 2002 brought the term ‘Positive Organizational
Behaviour’ (POB) in the public eye. In the words of Luthans (2002), POB is defined as “the
study and application of positively – oriented human resource strengths and psychological
resource capacities that can be measured, developed, and effectively managed for
performance improvement in today’s workplace” (p.59). Three main aspects highlighted in
this definition are:

• Measured: This aspect calls for POB to hold a concrete theory and research backing.
• Developed: This indicates that through well drafted and planned efforts the strengths
of POB can be developed among organizational employees.
• Managed: Once the strengths of POB have been developed, they can be managed to
augment organizational performance.

The positive psychological capacities are state like characteristics, implying they are open to
development. In this connection, the positive psychological capacities can be developed
through planned interventions, and thus, fulfilling one of the most important criteria of POB.
The POB constructs of confidence / self – efficacy, hope, optimism, subjective well being,
emotional intelligence and resilience are briefly presented below:

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 Confidence / Self –efficacy

Self efficacy implies to a person’s belief of “how well one can execute courses of action
required to deal with prospective situations” (Bandura, 1982, pp. 122). Self efficacy is the
state – like positive psychological source ability of confidence, which can be developed. It is
defined as a person’s certainty regarding their ability to marshal cognitive resources, courses
of action and motivation needed to achieve a goal within a given context (Stajkovic &
Luthans, 1998a). Over a period of time, with experience one gains complex cognitive,
linguistic, technical and/or social skills; giving rise to self – efficacy (Krietner & Kinicki,
2004). The way an individual perceives and interprets an event will influence and determine
how they will tackle knotty challenges and will also affect their stress management capability
(Bandura, 2000). Individuals high on self-efficacy view challenges as conquerable provided
reasonable proficiencies and endeavours (Avey, Luthans & Jensen, 2009).
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It is an enthusiastic and independent construct strongly associated with work-related

performance. Stajkovic & Luthans (1998b) extensive meta-analysis of 114 studies,
established that self-efficacy had the strongest relationship with job performance in
comparison to other OB concepts, such as job satisfaction (Judge, Thoresen, Bono, & Patton,
2001); goal setting (Wood, Mento, & Locke, 1987); the Big Five personality traits (Barrick &
Mount, 1991); feedback (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996); and OB Mod (Stajkovic & Luthans,
1997). It also positively influences organizational commitment and intentions to quit of
existing workforce (Harris & Cameron, 2005); as well as relates to socialization and retention
of fresh employees (Bauer, Bodner, Erdogan, Truxillo & Tucker, 2007). Self – efficacy has a
mediating effect on occupational stress, work engagement and burnout was proved in a South
African study conducted by Rothmann, 2003.

Hope

Hope is regarded as a ‘multidimensional construct’ that consists of an individual’s ‘way

power’ and ‘willpower’ (Snyder, 2002). Snyder, Irving & Anderson (1991, as cited in
Snyder, 2000, p.8) describes hope as “a positive motivational state that is based on an
interactively derived sense of successful (a) agency (goal-directed energy) and (b) pathways
(planning to meet goals)” .Way power implies an individual’s ability to work out substitute
pathways and eventuality plans in order to accomplish a goal amidst all hardships, while will
power refers to one’s determination to attain goals (Snyder, Irving & Anderson, 1991). Hope
motivates an individual to achieve success at the present work by looking for the best path
way or mean (Avey, et. al. 2008). An intermingle of willpower and way power lends hope a
capacity to be considered under the umbrella of positive psychology.

Hope has demonstrated significant contribution in the workplace (Duggleby, Copper & Penz,
2009; Luthans & Jensen, 2002). Hope determines job performance beyond cognitive ability
and self efficacy (Peterson, Walumbwa, Byron & Myrowitz, 2009). Snyder et al. (1991)
conducted a survey on US firms and identified that employees with high hope level were
more satisfied, committed and also showed higher retention rates. Youssef and Luthans
(2007) found a positive result of hope on employee satisfaction, work happiness and

14
 organizational commitment. Also, hope protects an individual’s insights of vulnerability,
unpredictability and uncontrollability (Snyder, 2002). It is strongly believed that employees’
wellbeing is improved by sustaining hope in them (Weick & Quinn, 1999).

Optimism

Optimism serves as one of the most closely associated construct with positive psychology
compared to other constructs (Luthans et. al., 2004). Seligman (1998) defines optimism as
“an attribution style that explains positive events in terms of personal, permanent, and
pervasive causes and negative events in terms of external, temporary, and situation-specific
ones.” In the words of Scheier, Carver & Bridges (2001), optimism is “a set of generalized
positive outcome expectancies”.

A conceptual difference between Optimism and Snyder’s hope is stated by Seligman (1998b).
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Hope is internally driven while optimism is driven by external. Optimism is characterized as

a flexible, realistic and dynamic construct which can be learnt and developed (Peterson,
2000). Optimism’s definition strongly rests on persistence and perseverance; the two major
dimensions people employ to explain events (Carver & Scheier, 2000). Optimistic people
view obstacles as challenges to be conquered (Luthans, Avolio, Walumbwa & Li, 2005) and
they persevere in the face of hardships (Stajkovic & Luthans, 1998). Studies conducted by
numerous scholars show that optimism has a positive impact on work performance (Luthans
et al., 2005; Seligman, 1998a). An optimistic employee makes a better assessment of
external, temporary and situational events (Youssef & Luthans, 2007). Optimism is positively
correlated with employee performance and engagement (Arakawa & Greenberg, 2007;
Medlin & Faulk, 2011). The authors hold the view that the call centre employees are able to
achieve organizational goals in a pressing and stressful environment on account of their
optimistic approach.

Subjective well being (SWB)

Subjective well being (SWB) implies one’s satisfaction with life and experiencing more
frequent pleasant emotions in comparison to unpleasant emotions (Dienner, Eunkook, Lucas
& Smith, 1999). SWB refers to “a person’s cognitive and affective evaluations of his or her
own life” (Diener, Lucas & Oshi, 2002, pg. 63). What an individual thinks about his/her life
satisfaction as a whole constitutes ‘cognitive element’ (global view); while what an
individual thinks regarding finance, work; family, relationships, etc decide the ‘domain
element’. The affective element comprises of moods, feelings and emotions. Thus,
specifically speaking, SWB is a broad construct covering a person’s emotional reactions,
domain satisfactions and large (global) views of life satisfaction.

Danna & Griffin, 1999 stated that SWB influences the employee’s productivity, their
decision – making ability and attendance. They also observed that an employees’ overall well
being is largely influenced by the stress created by the conflict between personal and
professional roles.

15
 Emotional Intelligence (EI)

In historical context, two American University professors, Dr. John Mayer and Dr. Peter
Salovey introduced the term ‘emotional intelligence’ in 1990 while attempting to formulate a
scientific measure for identifying the difference in ability of people in the areas of emotion.
In their article, “Emotional Intelligence” (1990), EI has been defined as "the subset of social
intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions,
to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions"
(p. 189). However, the concept of EI was popularized in 1995 by Daniel Goleman, an
American Psychologist.

Daniel Goleman (1995) defined EI as “the ability to know, manage one’s emotions and
recognizes them in others and to handle one’s relationship.” In the views of Goleman, an
individual with high EI is likely to be skilful in two areas, namely, ‘personal competence’,
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that is, how one handles the self and ‘social competence’ which relates to how one handles
relationships with others. In simple terms, EI refers to one’s ability to comprehend one’s
emotions as well as emotions of the people in our surroundings. It helps one to adjust our
moods/ emotions/ feelings and thus, cast an influence over the happenings taking place
around us in the world. Four dimensions making up EI are self awareness, self management,
social awareness and social management.

EI plays a noteworthy role in strengthening work performance as well as contributes towards

achievement in personal life (Goleman, 1998). EI is a potential factor in understanding and
envisaging employees’ work performance (Bhalla & Nauriyal, 2004). The relationship of EI
with success, job satisfaction and leadership effectiveness was studied by Kailash, Srivastava
& Bharamanaikar (2004). Sy, Tram and O’Hara (2006) indentified a positive association
between performance of the team and EI. It was also observed that ability of the team
members to identify emotions of their team members played an important role in raising the
overall team’s performance (Stough, Saklofske & Parker, 2009).

Resilience

Resilience is defined as “the capability of individuals to cope successfully in the face of

significant change, adversity, or risk. This capability changes over time and is enhanced by
protective factors in the individual and environment” (Stewart, Reid & Mangham, 1997, pp.
22). It refers to an individual’s ability to manoeuvre their environment fruitfully so as to
defend themselves from dire consequences of difficult situations (Rutter, 1987). Luthans
(2002b) added an additional dimension of ‘capability to bounce from adversity’ in this
definition. In this connection, people high on resilience continue with their efforts in spite of
setbacks or failures encountered. Thus, resilience determines an individual’s strength and
his/her coping mechanism to successfully cope up with hardships in life (Baumgardner &
Crothers, 2010). Simply stated, resiliency refers to the inexpressible positive psychological
capacity that helps an individual to re-stabilize his compose after experiencing some conflict,
hardship, setback or even increased responsibility, positive change and progress.

16
 Research has identified a positive link between resilience and work performance (Luthans,
Avolio, Avey & Norman, 2007). Study shows that resilient employees adapt positively and
rebound from adverse situations in the workplace, and thus curtailing their intentions to quit
(Luthans, Avey, Avolio, Norman & Combs, 2006). Possible association between resilience,
work engagement and commitment, as well as a positive link between resilience and
happiness at work has also been established (Luthans, et.al. 2007; Youssef & Luthans, 2007).
Highly resilient people are more effective in a fuzzier world (Block & Kreman, 1996).
Resilient people respond to changes in a resourceful manner; a resilient workforce is
productive, healthy, energetic, enthusiastic and durable (Lee, 2008).

Turnover Intentions
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The era of globalization witnessed turnover as a persistent problem plaguing each and every
organization, irrespective of its size and at every level. Employees’ turnover is a serious and
costly affair on account of the huge costs involved in termination, advertising, recruitment,
selection and hiring (Abbasi & Hollman, 2008). When an employee quits an organization, the
efficiency of the remaining employees is also severely impacted. Price (1977) defined
‘turnover’ as “The ratio of the employees of organization who left in a particular period of
time with the average number of employees in that organization during the same period of
time”. Turnover intention is defined as an individual’s awareness of quitting an organization
in the near future (Mowday, Porter & Steers, 1982). It is considered as the strongest predictor
of actual turnover (Joo & Park, 2010; Tett & Meyer, 1993).

Researchers have identified several determinants of turnover intention and examined some
managerial implications to rationally manage the trouble of high turnover rate (Tuzun, 2007).
Studies have identified that job stress and job satisfaction strongly correlates with continuous
commitment, which further influences an employees’ decision to remain or quit the
organization. In terms of gender, it was observed that women were likely to stay for a longer
time than men with their organizations (Bretz & Judge, 1994). Some studies identified a link
between age and turnover intentions; as people get older their propensity to stay with the
organization increases (Josiam, Devine, Baum, Crutsinger & Reynolds, 2010; Pizam &
Thornburg, 2000).

Servant Leadership, Positive Organizational Behaviour and Turnover Intentions

Researchers have well acknowledged the role played by teachers and parents in fostering
positive behaviour among their students and children (Snyder, 2000; Masten, 2001;
Seligman, 2006). Extending the same thought, we can say that the onus of facilitating
positive behaviour among employees primarily rests on organizational leaders. Such leaders
aim at achieving excellence by optimizing employees’ strengths, rather than concentrating on
critical evaluation. Servant leadership is one of the most positive forms of leadership as it
lays emphasizes on serving others, concentrates on followers’ development, and exhibits

17
 ethical moral and altruistic behaviour (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006; Liden et.al, 2008;
Sendjaya, et.al. 2008).

Viewing servant leadership as a positive style of leading is not a fresh look; since its ability to
assist positive behaviour among others has been enumerated in earlier research works
(Jaramillo, Grisaffe, Chonko, & Roberts, 2009; Liden et al., 2008). Servant leadership being
an employee – oriented leadership style instils positive job behaviour among employees
(Ehrhart, 2004). A servant leader encourages positive change and empowers followers
(Liden et al. 2008, Pollard, 1996). In a study conducted on 501 full-time sales people,
Jaramillo et al. (2009), it was reported that servant leadership was connected to person –
organization fit, which further influenced commitment towards organization and turnover
intention. As a result, it is reasonable to believe that many of the positive behaviours studied
under the ambit of psychological literature will be seen as the upshots in the work place lead
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by a servant leader (Lopez & Snyder, 2003).

We propose that mediated through positive organizational behaviour orientation, servant

leadership has the potential to trigger a chain of effects that lowers employees’ turnover
intentions. Specifically, a servant leader may serve as an effective style in inculcating
positive organizational behaviour among employees; and thus helping the organizations to
curtail their intentions to quit. Analyzing the interplay of servant leadership and positive
organizational behaviour of employees in the workplace will assist researchers to elucidate
some tenets of positive psychology and the antecedent role exhibited by the leader in this
direction.

Figure 1: Conceptual model linking servant leadership, positive organizational

behaviour and employees’ turnover intention

Servant Leadership Positive

Traits (Barbuto & Organizational
Wheeler , 2006) Behaviour (POB)
•Altruistic calling •Self efficacy/
• Emotional healing Confidence Employees’
• Wisdom •Hope Turnover
•Persuasive mapping •Optimism Intention
•Organizational •SWB
stewardship. •Emotional Intelligence
•Resilience

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 Future Directions

The researchers offer some significant directions for future pursuance aiming to build upon
and unveil more novel dimensions of servant leadership. Since research on servant leadership
is still in its nascent stage, the relationship between faith, culture and servant leadership can
be examined. Though, various organizational studies establishing relationship between
servant leadership and religious teachings have been undertaken; the link continues to be
partly explored (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010). An instrument to measure the association
among servant leadership, organizational performance and entrepreneurial orientation can
also be undertaken for further studies. An effort in the direction wherein servant leadership is
examined as a tool aiming towards a collaborative entrepreneurial environment would further
strengthen the knowledge base in the area of leadership.
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In a short span of time, positive psychology has created a niche for itself; but it has a long
way to go. For the years to come, positive psychology should try to understand the factors
that foster strengths, chart the framework of resilience, determine the role of positive
experiences and describe the purpose of establishing positive relationships with others. To
specifically identify the Indian determinants of POB dynamics, horizontal and vertical group
studies can be undertaken. The effect of other promising positive psychological capacities,
such as courage, forgiveness or wisdom may also be examined in future. Additionally, studies
on distinct and diversified sectors of organizations and the different levels of employees may
also be executed since there is an acute absence of focused researches documented till now
(Choubsia, 2009). If efforts in the above outlined courses of action are concretized, then in
the years to come, positive psychologists will in reality escalate the functioning of
organizations, schools, and even Governments and other institutions.

Conclusion

An elemental change in organizational attitudes and behaviour will ensure the existence and
growth of servant style of leadership. Leader acts as the ‘soft glue’ binding the organization
together as a virtual community working towards a common goal. As pointed by Charles
Handy (1996), the glue “is made up of a sense of common identity, linked to a common
purpose and fed by an infectious energy and urgency." (pp. 7-8). This is the primary focus of
a leader who is on a mission to take the organization to new heights in the 21st century.

The built up background in the previous sections and the future path of servant leadership and
POB establishes the importance and relevance of the chosen topic. The exceedingly chaotic
business environment, where survival and reducing employees’ intentions to quit has become
a challenging task, has created a huge scope for applying the POB concepts in the workplace.

19
 Author Biographies

Sumedha Dutta is presently working as an Assistant Professor with Maharaja Agrasen

Institute of Management Studies, Delhi. She is Research Scholar at University School of
Management Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi. She is pursuing her
doctoral work in the area of servant leadership and positive psychology. Her keen research
areas include Organization Behavior and Human Resource Management. She has 10 papers
published in National and International Journals and conference proceedings to her credit.
Sumedha Dutta is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
sumedha.maims@gmail.com.

Puja Khatri is currently working as a Professor at University School of Management Studies,

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Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi. She has her PhD degree in Organizational
Behavior and higher education. Also, she is a trained and certified Behaviour analyst with
specialization in Psychometric Profiling. In her rich 17 years of experience in teaching,
research and consultancy, she has published more than 90 research papers and articles in
journals and conferences of national and international repute.

20
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