A Literature Review of CEO Servant Leadership and Social Responsibility in American For-Profit Organizations

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to synthesize the literature on servant leadership and corporate social responsibility demonstrating conceptual and theoretical convergence. Servant leadership emphasizes ethics, positive psychology, and maximizes optimistic behavior and can be associated with CSR which has an ethical and humanistic framework. It is hypothesized that servant leadership is linked with both individual employee development and purpose-driven, stakeholder-based community relationships in for-profit corporations. The research gap that exists between CSR and servant leadership requires this study to analyze operational definitions through the perspective of ethics and spirituality. This study indicates that a positive relationship may exist between the perceptions of followers and attributions of servant leadership and CSR. With CSR, CEO servant leaders enhance employee psychological well-being, loyalty, improve financial performance, and address genuine social concerns.