Followers matter: Understanding the emotional exhaustion of servant leadership

Abstract

Abstract This study pivots from the broadly beneficial view of servant leadership and focuses on its negative effects on leaders themselves. Combining the constructionist approach with the job demands–resources (JD‐R) model, we propose the mutualism and parasitism paths and argue that servant leadership behaviors and followers' responses co‐construct leaders' emotional exhaustion. Specifically, we hypothesize that servant leadership influences followers' job demands and resources and, thus, predicts team taking charge and team dependence on leader. In turn, the two factors influence leaders' job demands and resources and, consequently, impact leaders' emotional exhaustion. Using two‐wave data of 385 employees from 83 teams, our results support the hypothesized model. Overall, our model and findings help explain the dark side of servant leadership.

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