SERVANT LEADERSHIP IN SALES: EXPLORING ITS DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS ON SALESPERSON PERFORMANCE

Servant leadership has been the focus of increased research because of its association with important job attitudes and behaviors. This study expands prior research by examining how servant leadership influences outcomes among 272 business-to-business salespeople. Servant leadership was related directly to superior customer value, organizational identification, and ethical climate. It was related both directly and indirectly to performance. Implications for having sales managers who are viewed as servant leaders are discussed.
INTRODUCTION The uniqueness of a salesperson's job makes leadership especially important in the professional selling domain (Ingram et al., 2005). Salespeople often work away from other employees, including the sales [...]