4.10.5 Servant Leadership Survey (SLS)
The Servant Leadership Survey (SLS) was developed to meet the need for a valid and reliable scale that encompasses the complexity of servant leadership, emphasizing a behavioral orientation and focusing on the leader’s role in their interactions with followers. The instrument evaluates various dimensions of the servant leader’s behavior, including empowerment, accountability, standing back, humility, authenticity, courage, interpersonal acceptance, and stewardship (Green et al., 2016).
The SLS was developed by Dirk van Dierendonck and Inge Nuijten, two professors from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University located in the Netherlands. Dierendonck & Nuijten (2011) tested the Servant Leadership Survey (SLS) in three phases. The first phase focused on the survey’s development. The second phase confirmed that the content of the survey accurately reflects the concept of servant leadership. Finally, the third phase assessed the survey’s ability to predict relevant behaviors by analyzing data from 1570 participants in the Netherlands and the UK from diverse professions. The results showed the survey was reliable, with internal consistency measures (Cronbach’s alpha) ranging from .69 to .92 across all scales. Notably, this is the first study to develop and confirm the underlying structure of servant leadership measurement across multiple field studies in two different countries.
Access
The SLS may be accessible via academic journals and research databases, including in the relevant articles listed in the references section. Prior to usage, permission from the authors or copyright holders may be necessary. Contact the authors directly or consult the articles for more information on the availability and permissions.
References
Green, M. T., Rodriguez, R. A., Wheeler, C. A., & Baggerly-Hinojosa, B. (2016). Servant leadership: A quantitative review of instruments and related findings. Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice, 2(2), 76-96. https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=sltp
Van Dierendonck, D., & Nuijten, I. (2010). The servant leadership survey: Development and validation of a multidimensional measure. Journal of Business and Psychology, 26(3), 249-267. https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10869-010-9194-1
