The Impact of Servant Leadership on Employee Career Success in Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries
Traditionally, servant leaders have been recognized for their ability to foster human and social capital, yet they often struggle with career advancement compared to their self-promoting counterparts. This study, grounded in human capital theory (Becker, 1964; Schultz, 1961), investigates how serva...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Arabic |
| Published: |
University of Oran 2 Mohamed Ben Ahmed
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | Advanced Research in Economics and Business Strategy Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://revue.univ-oran2.dz/Revue/AREBUS/index.php/AREBUS/article/view/71 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850081797565579264 |
|---|---|
| author | Jean Claude Kanyabwira Portia Bilankulu |
| author_facet | Jean Claude Kanyabwira Portia Bilankulu |
| author_sort | Jean Claude Kanyabwira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Traditionally, servant leaders have been recognized for their ability to foster human and social capital, yet they often struggle with career advancement compared to their self-promoting counterparts. This study, grounded in human capital theory (Becker, 1964; Schultz, 1961), investigates how servant leaders can enhance their organizational status and promotability through informal career mentoring. We tested our model using a sample of 610 leaders across 18 industries and 21 job functions who participated in a leadership development program in selected Sub-Saharan African countries. Data collection involved multi-source assessments: peer evaluations measured servant leadership qualities, direct reports assessed leader mentoring behavior, immediate supervisors evaluated leader status, and superiors determined leader promotability.
The results provide compelling evidence that servant leadership significantly predicts informal mentoring behavior, enhancing leader status and ultimately increasing promotability ratings. Mediation analyses confirm that leader status is crucial in translating servant leadership into career advancement. Additionally, qualitative insights highlight that servant leadership aligns with indigenous leadership values such as Ubuntu, reinforcing its relevance in Sub-Saharan Africa.
These findings contribute to the broader discourse on leadership effectiveness by demonstrating that servant leadership benefits followers and serves as a viable strategy for personal career growth. The study offers practical implications for organizations to incorporate servant leadership principles into leadership development programs, mentorship initiatives, and HRM policies to optimize employee engagement and leadership succession planning.
|
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-eeecfacf092a4d94a71222e371334d60 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2716-9421 2773-3807 |
| language | Arabic |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | University of Oran 2 Mohamed Ben Ahmed |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Advanced Research in Economics and Business Strategy Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-eeecfacf092a4d94a71222e371334d602025-08-20T02:44:39ZaraUniversity of Oran 2 Mohamed Ben AhmedAdvanced Research in Economics and Business Strategy Journal2716-94212773-38072025-06-016110.52919/arebus.v6i01.71The Impact of Servant Leadership on Employee Career Success in Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries Jean Claude Kanyabwira0Portia Bilankulu1Harbin Institute of Technology- RWANDAHarbin Institute of Technology, South Africa Traditionally, servant leaders have been recognized for their ability to foster human and social capital, yet they often struggle with career advancement compared to their self-promoting counterparts. This study, grounded in human capital theory (Becker, 1964; Schultz, 1961), investigates how servant leaders can enhance their organizational status and promotability through informal career mentoring. We tested our model using a sample of 610 leaders across 18 industries and 21 job functions who participated in a leadership development program in selected Sub-Saharan African countries. Data collection involved multi-source assessments: peer evaluations measured servant leadership qualities, direct reports assessed leader mentoring behavior, immediate supervisors evaluated leader status, and superiors determined leader promotability. The results provide compelling evidence that servant leadership significantly predicts informal mentoring behavior, enhancing leader status and ultimately increasing promotability ratings. Mediation analyses confirm that leader status is crucial in translating servant leadership into career advancement. Additionally, qualitative insights highlight that servant leadership aligns with indigenous leadership values such as Ubuntu, reinforcing its relevance in Sub-Saharan Africa. These findings contribute to the broader discourse on leadership effectiveness by demonstrating that servant leadership benefits followers and serves as a viable strategy for personal career growth. The study offers practical implications for organizations to incorporate servant leadership principles into leadership development programs, mentorship initiatives, and HRM policies to optimize employee engagement and leadership succession planning. https://revue.univ-oran2.dz/Revue/AREBUS/index.php/AREBUS/article/view/71Human capitalServant leadershipMentoringPromotabilityStatusSub-Saharan Africa |
| spellingShingle | Jean Claude Kanyabwira Portia Bilankulu The Impact of Servant Leadership on Employee Career Success in Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries Advanced Research in Economics and Business Strategy Journal Human capital Servant leadership Mentoring Promotability Status Sub-Saharan Africa |
| title | The Impact of Servant Leadership on Employee Career Success in Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries |
| title_full | The Impact of Servant Leadership on Employee Career Success in Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of Servant Leadership on Employee Career Success in Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of Servant Leadership on Employee Career Success in Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries |
| title_short | The Impact of Servant Leadership on Employee Career Success in Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries |
| title_sort | impact of servant leadership on employee career success in selected sub saharan african countries |
| topic | Human capital Servant leadership Mentoring Promotability Status Sub-Saharan Africa |
| url | https://revue.univ-oran2.dz/Revue/AREBUS/index.php/AREBUS/article/view/71 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jeanclaudekanyabwira theimpactofservantleadershiponemployeecareersuccessinselectedsubsaharanafricancountries AT portiabilankulu theimpactofservantleadershiponemployeecareersuccessinselectedsubsaharanafricancountries AT jeanclaudekanyabwira impactofservantleadershiponemployeecareersuccessinselectedsubsaharanafricancountries AT portiabilankulu impactofservantleadershiponemployeecareersuccessinselectedsubsaharanafricancountries |