Compassion, suffering and servant-leadership: Combining compassion and servant-leadership to respond to suffering

Davenport, Brian

doi:10.1177/1742715014532481

Cited by 22 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The servant leaders in our study seem to play this role quite effectively as they help their subordinates come out of their shattered selves and be whole once again. Davenport (2015) observed that compassion entails a deep caring and concern for one another-an attribute found in a servant leader as well. So, 'it is possible that servant leadership and compassion can and should coexist' (p. 304).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rai and Prakash (2012) observed that servant leaders want to lead in such a way that their 'followers become empowered, responsible, healthier, wiser and autonomous' (p. 64). To realize this, they may want to consider acting on their awareness and understanding of followers' suffering (Davenport, 2015). According to Davenport, a point might come 'where the servant leader can no longer settle for an empathetic understanding of the suffering of another, but instead may seek to take necessary actions to begin working to alleviate the cause of the suffering' (p. 307).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Healing a Broken Spirit: Role of Servant Leadership

Jit¹,

Sharma

Kawatra³

2017

Vikalpa

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Executive SummaryA number of empirical studies have suggested that servant leadership can enhance the well-being/emotional health of its followers by creating a positive work climate ( Black, 2010 ; Jaramillo et al., 2009 a; Neubert et al., 2008 ). The followers’ sense of well-being, in turn, has been found to be related to greater organizational commitment ( Cerit, 2010 ; Hale & Fields, 2007 ; Hamilton & Bean, 2005 ; Han, Kakabadse, & Kakabadse, 2010; Pekerti & Sendjaya, 2010 ). Greater the organizational commitment, higher is the employee job satisfaction ( Cerit, 2009 ; Chung, Jung, Kyle, & Petrick, 2010 ; Jenkins & Stewart, 2010 ; Mayer, Bardes, & Piccolo, 2008 ) and lower is the employee turnover ( Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2011 ; Jaramillo, Grisaffe, Chonko, & Roberts, 2009 b).A servant leader—with reported behaviour characteristics such as empathy, compassion, and altruistic calling and healing—builds not only a mentally and emotionally healthy workforce but also inculcates a sense of cohesiveness, collaboration, and sustainable relationships among the followers by understanding and addressing their feelings and emotions. It has been reported that cohesiveness and collaboration in a servant-led organization increases pro-social and altruistic behaviour among followers that improves organizational performance ( Ebener & O’Connell, 2010 ; Ehrhart, 2004 ; Hu & Liden, 2011 ; Walumbwa, Hartnell, & Oke, 2010 ) and overall team effectiveness ( Mayer et al., 2008 ; McCuddy & Cavin, 2008 ; Taylor et al., 2007 ).The significance of understanding and addressing the feelings and emotions of followers and ensuring their well-being becomes evident from the above findings. The aim of this qualitative study is to comprehend how servant leaders understand, empathize with, and address the emotional turmoil of their employees.Orientation for emotional healing is reported to be a unique characteristic of servant leaders. But there is negligible empirical research to understand the way servant leaders alleviate the suffering of their employees. The present study fills this gap.Qualitative methods and techniques from different qualitative methodologies were used for data collection and analysis. We conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with leaders in corporate, education, and government sectors to capture personal accounts about their experiences, reflections, and analysis of their approach to emotional healing.Our results suggest that servant leaders—with their orientation for empathy, compassion, healing, altruistic calling, and listening—adopt a compassionate approach to manage employees’ emotional turmoil. All three parts of the process of compassion, described by Clark (1997) and Kanov et al. (2004) are clearly visible in the narratives of our respondents. The servant leaders, with characteristics of empathy and compassion, are oriented towards the followers’ suffering. This leads to empathic concern and compassion that trigger in them an urge to take action to relieve the followers’ suffering. This action, also termed as compassionate responding, manifests itself in a three-step behaviour: (1) patient listening and discussion; (2) empathetic handling that includes comforting and calming as well as guiding and counselling the suffering employee; and (3) taking personal responsibility and providing support (emotional, social, financial, and administrative).Insight from this study will guide the working managers to understand and practice the process of alleviating the emotional turmoil of employees such that a culture of compassion and benevolence will emerge and sustain for the long-term health and growth of the organization.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Healing a Broken Spirit: Role of Servant Leadership

Jit¹,

Sharma

Kawatra³

2017

Vikalpa

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“…Researchers should investigate the processes in place for terminating employees who did not meet the servant leadership standards in SWM firms. Further, what procedures must be established, given the lack of consensus, clear definition, or theoretical framework behind servant leadership (Davenport, 2015), to warrant terminating an employee?…”

Section: Employee Separationmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Servant Leadership Principles Affect Employee Turnover at a Solid Waste Management Firm

2019

JLAE

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The authors examine servant leadership and employee turnover at a solid waste management (SWM) firm, including extensive review of literature pertaining to leadership, servant leadership, and SWM. Multiple interviews were held with personnel at an SWM firm that utilizes servant leadership to gain a better understanding of the experiences of these employees. The study indicates that servant leadership has a positive impact on employee satisfaction and, consequently decreases turnover. Servant leadership was found to affect the lives of the participants. The authors developed multiple themes based on data analysis, including: culture, accountability, support, and commitment.

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“…). Suffering is part of being human and it results from unacceptable physical and emotional changes, worries about the future or loss of autonomy (Cassell , Sensky , Davenport ). Arguably, suffering, in some form, must precede compassionate midwifery.…”

Section: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neither is it entirely alien, given that in childbirth women are confronted with intense physical and emotional stressors (Simkin 1996) and that many women do report suffering and trauma related to childbirth (Coates et al 2014). Suffering is part of being human and it results from unacceptable physical and emotional changes, worries about the future or loss of autonomy (Cassell 1982, Sensky 2010, Davenport 2015. Arguably, suffering, in some form, must precede compassionate midwifery.…”

Section: Mapping the Data To The Four Elements Of The Compassion Processmentioning

confidence: 99%