The dark side of leadership in the service leadership theory

• Published in: International journal of child health and human development Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 405 - 413
• Main Authors: Dou, Diya, Shek, Daniel TL
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hauppauge Nova Science Publishers, Inc 01.10.2021
• Subjects: Collaboration; Employees; Families & family life; Job satisfaction; Leadership; Motivation; Organizational effectiveness; Qualitative research; Supervision
• ISSN: 1939-5965; 2374-085X

The dark side of leadership is not uncommon in the business world. It is often driven by a pursuit of short-term personal interests at the cost of others and organizations. Existing literature has revealed its negative influences on individual and organizational outcomes, such as employee motivation, interpersonal relationship, and organizational effectiveness. In the service economy, the dark side of leadership may bring even greater destructive outcomes to individuals and organizations as it undermines the quality of service and people relationships that are highly valued in the service economy. As such, to prevent the dark side of leadership is of paramount importance. According to the service leadership theory (SLT) proposed by Dr. Po Chung, Co-Founder of DHL International, the dark side of leadership occurs when leaders lack Competence, Character, or Care. Through interviews with Dr. Po Chung and his former colleagues in DHL, as well as an exploration on Dr. Po Chung's autobiographical writings, we tried to understand the dark side of leadership in the service economy under the framework of the SLT, and the practices adopted by DHL International to prevent it. Results indicate that the conceptualization and destructive impacts of the dark side of leadership in the SLT echo existing academic research. In addition, results also highlight practices and strategies adopted by DHL International to prevent the dark side of leadership.