Servant Leadership and U.S. Air Force Intelligence Officer Leadership Candidates

Abstract

The United States Air Force (USAF) puts emphasis on leadership and leadership development when considering intelligence officers for leadership positions. Liden et al.’s (2008) seven servant leadership behaviors are noticeably analogous to USAF core values and desired leadership traits. Looking at USAF desired leadership characteristics through the lens of servant leadership served as the theoretical basis for this study. This cross-sectional, quantitative study used descriptive statistics, correlational analysis, and factorial analysis of variance to address three guiding research questions that examine (a) whether there was a relationship among servant leadership behaviors of USAF intelligence officers selected as leadership candidates; (b) if servant leadership behaviors of USAF intelligence officers correlated with leadership candidate selection; and (c) whether servant leadership behaviors can be used to predict selection of a USAF intelligence officer as a leadership candidate. Convenience and purposive sampling allowed data collection using electronic versions of Liden et al.’s (2008) 28-factor servant leadership questionnaire and a demographic questionnaire from 50 USAF intelligence officers from around the world. The research indicated no statistically significant differences in the level of the participants’ seven servant leadership behaviors, a weak correlation between servant leadership behaviors and leadership candidate selection, and that servant leadership behaviors are not predictors for leadership candidate selection for USAF intelligence officers.