Servant leadership advocates a perspective that leaders have a responsibility to serve their followers by helping them achieve and improve by modeling leaders’ ethical values, attitudes, and behaviors that influence organization outcomes through the fulfillment of followers’ needs.
Leaders should put the needs of the followers before their own needs.
Servant leaders use collaboration and persuasion to influence followers rather than coercion and control; they understand their stewardship role and are accountable for their actions.
Social Learning Theory
Social learning theory holds that individuals look to role models in the work context, and model or imitate their behavior.
Modeling is acknowledged to be one of the most powerful means for transmitting values, attitudes, and behaviors.
Leaders who engage in unethical behaviors create a context supporting what Kemper calls “parallel deviance,” meaning that employees observe and are likely to imitate the inappropriate conduct, especially if leaders are rewarded for the unethical conduct.
The social learning approach argues that because of leaders’ authority role and the power to reward and punish, employees will pay attention and mimic leaders’ behavior, and they will do what is rewarded and avoid doing what is punished in the organization.