Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
11-2024
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5631-5391
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Robert Haussmann
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Kristin O'Byrne
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Deardra Hayes-Whigham
Abstract
Nonprofit organizations contribute significantly to the growth and progress of economies worldwide by offering needed services and support to communities. Fostering a positive workplace culture is a critical leadership priority within nonprofit organizations, and leaders must not only attract, but they must strengthen and motivate their workforce. A staple of all positive work cultures is the presence of healthy interpersonal relationships, built on trust. Trust is an essential organizational attribute, a crucial factor in the quality of relationships. Managers must understand how their behaviors affect the extent to which their workers trust them and should exhibit a style of leadership that facilities productive relationships within their contexts. Employees, too, must contribute positively to healthy workplace cultures. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to understand how employee perception of servant leadership behaviors and employee mindful awareness in the workplace predict trust in their managers within nonprofit organizations. The sample population consisted of employees who work for nonprofit organizations, 18 years or older, and work either full-time or part-time, within the nonprofit industry within the United States. The multiple regression analysis revealed that employee mindfulness and employee perception of servant leadership behaviors were statistically significant predictors of trust in their manager. This study underscores the critical role leaders play in the health of interpersonal relationships and recognizes the equally important responsibility every worker has to exhibit behaviors that contribute to well-being at work. These findings demonstrate the importance of creating psychologically safe cultures where employees and organizations can thrive. Recommendations for practice and research are discussed.
Keywords: trust, servant leadership, mindfulness, well-being, thriving, psychological safety
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Mullins, Shannon, "Employee Mindfulness and Employee Perception of Servant Leadership Behaviors on Trust in Managers Within Nonprofits" (2024). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 830.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/830