Effects of emerging leadership styles on engagement – a mediation analysis in a military context
Leadership & Organization Development Journal
ISSN: 0143-7739
Article publication date: 24 March 2021
Issue publication date: 23 June 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report the findings of a study examining the relationship between different leadership styles and engagement through the mediating role of proactive personality.
Design/methodology/approach
Servant leadership, paradoxical leadership, authentic leadership, employee engagement and proactive personality were assessed in an empirical study based on a sample of 348 military personnel in Spain. The questionnaire data were analyzed through SEM using EQS and bootstrapping analysis using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.
Findings
The results reveal that servant leadership style in officers partially impacts their cadets' engagement through proactive personality but that authentic and paradoxical leadership styles do not mediate the relationship. The authors also verify a direct relationship between proactive personality and engagement.
Practical implications
The study implications advance the literature on leadership in emphasizing new leadership styles to increase proactive personality and engagement in the military context. This study verifies the importance of military leaders fostering servant leadership as an antecedent of proactive personality. Finally, the authors show that servant leadership partially impacts engagement through proactive personality.
Originality/value
This study explores the relationship among servant, paradoxical and authentic leadership styles, proactive personality, and engagement – relationships that have not been explored theoretically and tested empirically in the military context.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: This research was funded by Centro Mixto Universidad de Granada-Mando de Adiestramiento y Doctrina (CEMIX UGR-MADOC), grant number Ref. 22/18.
Citation
Ruiz Moreno, A., Roldán Bravo, M.I., García-Guiu, C., Lozano, L.M., Extremera Pacheco, N., Navarro-Carrillo, G. and Valor-Segura, I. (2021), "Effects of emerging leadership styles on engagement – a mediation analysis in a military context", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 42 No. 5, pp. 665-689. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-05-2020-0222
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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