Humility in novice leaders: links to servant leadership and followers’ satisfaction with leadership

Abstract

Across two studies, we investigated connections between leader humility, servant leadership, and follower satisfaction. Leaders were resident and spiritual life advisors in on-campus housing at a university. In Study 1, we assessed leaders’ self-reported expressed humility, intellectual humility, and servant leadership at three times across six months. Leader humility did not change across time, but aspects of both forms of leader humility were positively associated with servant leadership. In Study 2, leaders were rated by their followers. Leaders reporting more respect for diverse viewpoints, a characteristic of intellectual humility, had followers who were more satisfied with their leaders’ interpersonal leadership and justice orientation. This research suggest potential benefits to cultivating humility among novice leaders in some contexts.