The Impact of Servant Leadership on Adaptive Performance: Mediation by Resilience and Psychological Empowerment in Hydrometeorological Disaster Response

Aldis Rahmadhani; Syahrizal Syahrizal

doi:10.55927/eajmr.v5i5.116

Authors

Aldis Rahmadhani Universitas Negeri Padang
Syahrizal Syahrizal Universitas Negeri Padang

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/eajmr.v5i5.116

Keywords:

Hydrometeorological Disaster , Servant Leadership, Adaptive Performance, Resilience, Psychological Empowerment

Abstract

This study examines the influence of servant leadership on adaptive performance among government personnel involved in hydrometeorological disaster management in Agam Regency, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Using a quantitative explanatory design with SEM-PLS analysis on 200 purposively sampled respondents from relevant Regional Apparatus Organizations (OPD), data were collected via Likert-scale questionnaires. Results indicate that servant leadership significantly and positively affects resilience and psychological empowerment, both of which mediate its relationship with adaptive performance. The study concludes that in high-uncertainty disaster response settings, servant leadership operates indirectly through building employees' personal resources rather than through a direct pathway. The direct effect was found to be non-significant (β = 0.027, p = 0.584), reinforcing that resilience and psychological empowerment serve as full mediators in this relationship.

References

Asamoah, K. (2025). Servant leadership in crisis management: Leadership response in the management of Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 12, Article 100491. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.100491

Baidar, S. S. (2024). Role of local governance in disaster management: A systematic review. Educational Administration: Theory and Practice, 30(2), 444–457. https://doi.org/10.53555/kuey.v30i2.1327

Bakkaloglu, M. (2023). Exploring the impact of servant leadership on thriving at work and adaptive performance. Current Psychology. Advance online publication.

Bardoel, E. A., & Drago, R. (2021). Acceptance and strategic resilience: An application of conservation of resources theory. Group & Organization Management. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10596011211012488

Bonini, A., Panari, C., Caricati, L., & Mariani, M. G. (2024). The relationship between leadership and adaptive performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 19(10), Article e0304720. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304720

Brennan, A., Garavan, T., Egan, T., O'Brien, F., & Ullah, I. (2023). A conservation of resources perspective on public sector employee work engagement. European Management Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12594

Cai, M., Wang, M., & Cheng, J. (2024). The effect of servant leadership on work engagement: The role of employee resilience and organizational support. Behavioral Sciences, 14(4), Article 300. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14040300

Eva, N., Robin, M., Sendjaya, S., van Dierendonck, D., & Liden, R. C. (2019). Servant leadership: A systematic review and call for future research. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), 111–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.07.004

Ghozali, I., & Latan, H. (2015). Partial least squares: Konsep, teknik dan aplikasi menggunakan SmartPLS 3.0 untuk penelitian empiris. Badan Penerbit Universitas Diponegoro.

Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., Sarstedt, M., Danks, N. P., & Ray, S. (2022). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using R: A workbook. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80519-7.

Hariyanto, T., & Sutawijaya, A. H. (2024). The role of servant leadership and self-efficacy in adaptive performance. Jurnal Ilmiah Manajemen Kesatuan, 12(4), 1397–1412. https://doi.org/10.37641/jimkes.v12i4.2631

Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513–524. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.44.3.513

Hobfoll, S. E., Halbesleben, J., Neveu, J. P., & Westman, M. (2018). Conservation of resources in the organizational context: The reality of resources and their consequences. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 5, 103–128.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (n.d.). What is a disaster? Retrieved March 3, 2026, from https://www.ifrc.org/our-work/disasters-climate-and-crises/what-disaster

Kaltiainen, J., & Hakanen, J. (2020). Fostering task and adaptive performance through employee well-being: The role of servant leadership. Business Research Quarterly, 25(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/23409444211016865

Kundu, S. C., & Kumar, S. (2019). Empowering leadership and job performance: Mediating role of psychological empowerment. Journal of Management Development, 36(5), 605–624. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-04-2016-0063

Luthans, F., Avolio, B. J., Avey, J. B., & Norman, S. M. (2007). Positive psychological capital: Measurement and relationship with performance and satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, 60(3), 541–572. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2007.00083.x

McLoughlin, E., & Priyadarshini, A. (2021). Adaptability in the workplace: Investigating the adaptive performance job requirements for a project manager. Project Leadership and Society, 2, Article 100012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plas.2021.100012

Munoz, A., Girguis, S., Martin, L., & Hollifield, M. (2024). Applying and extending the conservation of resources (COR) model to trauma in U.S. veterans. Trauma Care, 4(1), 22–30. https://doi.org/10.3390/traumacare4010003

Peng, C., Liang, Y., Yuan, G., Xie, M., Mao, Y., Harmat, L., & Bonaiuto, F. (2023). How servant leadership predicts employee resilience in public organizations: A social identity perspective. Current Psychology, 42, 14647–14662. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-04138-7

Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., & Hair, J. F. (2021). Partial least squares structural equation modeling. In Handbook of Market Research (pp. 587–632). Springer.

Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2016). Research methods for business: A skill-building approach (7th ed.). Wiley.

Siddiquei, A. N., Ahmad, S., & Asmi, F. (2025). Fostering team resilience with servant leadership: A multi-level study of the construction industry. Acta Psychologica, 253, Article 104732. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.104732

Spreitzer, G. M. (1995). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: Dimensions, measurement, and validation. Academy of Management Journal, 38(5), 1442–1465.

Sugiyono. (2018). Metode penelitian kuantitatif, kualitatif, dan R&D. Alfabeta.

Tang, G., Abu Bakar, R., & Omar, S. (2024). Positive psychology and employee adaptive performance: Systematic literature review. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, Article 1417260. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1417260

Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 24 Tahun 2007 tentang Penanggulangan Bencana. (2007). Lembaran Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 2007 Nomor 66.

Wang, L., Sun, Y., Li, J., Xu, Y., Chen, M., Zhu, X., & Wang, D. (2022). Effects of ambidextrous leadership on employees’ work behavior: The mediating role of psychological empowerment. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 862799. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.862799

Winarno, A., Gadzali, S. S., Kisahwan, D., & Hermana, D. (2025). How servant leadership promote psychological resilience for engagement and performance from job demands-resources view. Qubahan Academic Journal, 5(2), 177–189. https://doi.org/10.48161/qaj.v5n2a487

Xu, Y., & Zhang, M. (2022). The study of the impact of empowering leadership on adaptive performance of faculties based on chain mediating. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 938951. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.938951

Xu, B., et al. (2025). Effect of servant leadership on employees' innovative behavior with the mediating role of psychological empowerment and moderating role of core self-evaluation. PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12518565