Abstract
Purpose. This quantitative correlational study explored relationships between followers' perceptions of leaders' servant leadership behaviors, level of satisfaction with organizational communication, and level of trust in the leaders for staff working within a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare setting. Additionally, the role of trust was considered as a moderator of the relationship between servant leadership and satisfaction with communication. Methodology. Within the VA Long Beach Healthcare System in California, 176 staff responded to a 73-item survey comprised of 3 instruments measuring the extent of servant leadership behaviors demonstrated by leaders, staff satisfaction with communication in the organization, and the level of trust staff had in their leaders. The survey included demographic questions and questions about communications with supervisors. Pearson r coefficients were calculated to determine the relationships between the independent variable (servant leadership) and the 2 dependent variables (communication satisfaction and leader trust). A hierarchical linear regression was calculated to determine how trust moderated that relationship. Findings. Servant leadership was strongly and positively correlated with trust and moderately and positively correlated with communication satisfaction. Specifically, servant leadership was more strongly correlated with communication satisfaction dimensions related to communication between leader and follower, and less strongly correlated with communication satisfaction dimensions related to general organizational communication. The moderating role of trust was not examined due to the high intercorrelation between servant leadership and trust. The results suggested that 64% of the variance in communication satisfaction was predicted by trust in the supervisor and servant leadership. Conclusions. Servant leadership predicted trust in the leader and communication satisfaction. This study supports the idea that servant leaders inspire their followers' trust and that trust is associated with satisfaction with leader-follower and organization-follower communication in the VA. Recommendations. Further study on the relationship between servant leadership, communication satisfaction, and trust within other VA sites will provide feedback regarding the benefit from the VA's current endeavors to support servant leadership as well as confirmation for continuing these efforts. The research community should continue to evaluate the relationships discovered to provide both nascent and established leaders with an enriched understanding of how practicing servant leadership may enhance their leadership outcomes.