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Effects of emerging leadership styles on engagement – a mediation analysis in a military context

Antonia Ruiz Moreno (Department of Business Organization, Faculty of Economics and Business Management, University of Granada, Granada, Spain)
María Isabel Roldán Bravo (Department of Business Administration, University of Jaén, Jaén, Spain)
Carlos García-Guiu (Spanish General Military Academy, Zaragoza, Spain) (Centro Asociado Malaga, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, Spain)
Luis M. Lozano (Department of Research Methods in Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Psychology, Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, Granada, Spain)
Natalio Extremera Pacheco (Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain)
Ginés Navarro-Carrillo (Department of Psychology, University of Jaén, Jaén, Spain)
Inmaculada Valor-Segura (Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, Granada, Spain)

Leadership & Organization Development Journal

ISSN: 0143-7739

Article publication date: 24 March 2021

Issue publication date: 23 June 2021

2253

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

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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