A review of servant leadership attributes: developing a practical model

Abstract

Servant leadership is an increasingly popular concept in the repertoire of leadership styles. While an intuitively attractive concept, it is systematically undefined and not yet supported by empirical research. Reviews the servant leadership literature with the intent to develop a preliminary theoretical framework. Builds a foundation for categorizing and appraising the functional and accompanying attributes of servant leaders. Once categorized, a formative, rational servant leadership attribute model is constructed. The authors call for further development of the model and empirical research to support it.