This presentation shares findings from my upcoming Emergency Services Foundation 2025 Scholarship study tour, investigating the impact of Servant Leadership on wellbeing and culture within emergency service contexts. Research demonstrates that organisational factors like bullying & harassment are more harmful to emergency service personnel wellbeing than organisational trauma: it is not the horrible things they are exposed to that harms, but the horrible environment that exposes them.
‘Servant Leadership’ (Greenleaf, 1970), is a values-based model of leadership that prioritises the growth, wellbeing, and empowerment of their people, contradicting traditional command & control paradigms. Whilst often referenced in corporate & non-profit settings, Servant Leadership applied in high-stakes environments such as fire, rescue, and policing has been shown to improve responder health, resiliency, and post-traumatic growth, yet is seldom formally embedded in these contexts. Concurrently, these sectors face increasing psychological injury & burnout; as well as recruitment, retainment & cultural challenges. There need for leadership practices more aligned to trust and psychological safety is clear.
I am engaging in on-site study with the Swedish Police Authority, one of the few emergency service organisations globally to have embedded Servant Leadership into its culture. I will share the lived experiences (via soundbites)of leaders and those shaped by this model, drawn from structured interviews & feedback from current participants, alumni now in leadership positions, and current program developers.
My research also draws on lessons from other jurisdictions, (ie North America) that have trialled Servant Leadership programs with varying degrees of success. Preliminary themes include: reducing stigma around vulnerability, strengthening trust between leaders and frontline personnel and community; and supporting healthier team dynamics despite chronic stress and trauma.
This presentation will make a case for Servant Leadership mitigating psychological injury, enhance wellbeing, and shift organisational culture in emergency services;and discuss barriers to sustainability and provide recommendations.