The Influence of Servant Leadership on the Performance of the Association of Wives of Veterans of the Republic of Indonesia (PIVERI)

Introduction

Servant Leadership is a leadership approach that emphasizes the importance of serving first before leading. This concept was first introduced by Robert K. Greenleaf.¹ The ideal leader is not someone who starts with the intention to lead but rather someone who is driven to serve. Through this service, Leadership naturally emerges. In servant Leadership, the improvement and work roles of leaders who are directly involved in daily service are highly beneficial to recipients, such as employees, teams, and organizational members.² Leaders act not to dominate but to support, guide, and empower those around them. Leaders who adopt the principles of servant Leadership can enhance employee engagement, respond thoughtfully to ethical challenges, and develop long-term strategies that foster the organization’s overall growth. His primary focus is on creating a supportive environment that fosters personal and professional growth for team members. This approach contrasts with traditional leadership styles, which generally place power and control in the hands of leaders in a hierarchical structure. The fundamental difference between servant Leadership and traditional Leadership lies in their orientation and the fundamental values they adhere to. If traditional Leadership tends to emphasize hierarchical structures and authority, then servant Leadership fosters collaboration, trust, and ethics in work relationships. Leaders in this model place more emphasis on team needs than personal ambitions, prioritizing shared achievement through the empowerment of team members.

Comprehensively summarizes the forms of Leadership, practices, and insights of servant Leadership at various levels to describe its characteristics,³ which identifies the ten main characteristics of servant Leadership. These characteristics include listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building a community. These characters serve as a practical guide for leaders who want to implement servant leadership values in their organizations.

Leadership in volunteer-based social organizations faces complex challenges that involve not only limited resources but also the capacity to mobilize members who are volunteers. In this context, the organization of the Association of Veteran Wives of the Republic of Indonesia (PIVERI) was established on July 28, 1964, and is the wife of the Veteran Legion of the Republic of Indonesia, whose existence is supported by the Presidential Decree of the Republic of Indonesia No. 103 of 1957 concerning the Veteran Legion of the Republic of Indonesia and Law No. 15 of 2012 concerning Veterans of the Republic of Indonesia. PIVERI has 90,698 members spread throughout Indonesia and consists of 1 PIVERI Central Board, 31 PIVERI Regional Boards, and 306 PIVERI Branch Boards. PIVERI is the Association of Veteran Wives of the Republic of Indonesia, one of the social organizations in Indonesia that plays a special and strategic role in supporting the welfare of veteran wives. This study is fascinating because it is led by older women who must not only maintain the organization’s sustainability but also manage the social and emotional dynamics of its members, most of whom are also elderly. The Leadership of older adults in PIVERI shows a character rooted in the values of service, example, togetherness, and community empowerment. Although not oriented towards economic results, their Leadership has a direct impact on the quantity and quality of community social work programs, such as routine social activities, member welfare coaching, and cross-organizational cooperation. This dynamic is crucial to understand within the framework of Servant Leadership, an approach that places great emphasis on human values, collaboration, and the impact of Leadership on social change.

This study aims to explore the extent to which the leadership characteristics of women over 50 years old influence organizational culture in the PIVERI Region. In addition, this study aims to determine the extent to which the leadership characteristics of women over 50 years old influence the Performance of the Regional PIVERI organization, particularly in the face of limited resources, both directly and through the mediating influence of organizational Culture. Through a quantitative approach, this study contributes to expanding the understanding of older adults’ Leadership in volunteer-based social organizations in Indonesia. Servant leadership influences various aspects of the organization, including organizational Culture, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and employee performance, with a descriptive analysis approach using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method.⁴ The study’s results demonstrate that servant Leadership has a significant impact on organizational Culture, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and employee performance. In addition, organizational Culture has also been shown to have a positive and significant effect on OCB; however, it does not have a significant impact on employee performance.

Meanwhile, organizational commitment does not show a significant influence on OCB or employee performance. Interestingly, OCB has been shown to have a significant impact on enhancing employee performance. These findings confirm the important role of servant Leadership in shaping a work environment that fosters a positive culture and encourages extra-role behaviors, ultimately contributing to individual Performance in organizations. The relationship between servant Leadership and organizational Performance reveals a positive correlation between servant Leadership and the improvement of leadership styles, enabling organizations to gain a competitive advantage.⁵ It enriches the literature on leadership styles and organizational Performance while providing practical insights for leaders who want to drive organizational Performance through a service-focused leadership approach. However, various quantitative studies have not investigated the extent of the influence of servant Leadership on organizational Culture and subsequently examined the extent of the influence of servant Leadership on organizational Performance (Organizational Performance), which is social, especially in the PIVERI organization whose administrators are women over 50 years old, including researching the influence of organizational Culture as a mediator between servant Leadership and organizational Performance, as well as the influence of organizational Culture on organizational Performance. Thus, this study investigated the relationship with the following hypotheses:

Furthermore, this study also explores the extent of the influence of mediation from organizational Culture on the relationship between Servant Leadership and Organizational Performance, with the following hypotheses:

Moreover, researched the extent of the influence of organizational Culture on organizational Performance with the following hypotheses:

This study employs a quantitative approach using a census method that encompasses the entire population of the PIVERI Regional Management (PD PIVERI), comprising 31 regional-level management units. The unit of analysis in this study is the Regional PIVERI organization itself. One respondent represents each Regional PIVERI, resulting in a total of 31 respondents. The majority of respondents involved served as the secretary of the organization, while one respondent was known to serve as the Head of Social Affairs. Data collection was conducted through the distribution of a structured questionnaire comprising three main variables: Servant Leadership, Organizational Culture, and Organizational Performance. The Servant Leadership measurement instrument (Liden et al., 2015) consists of seven leading indicators. Indicators for Organizational Culture (Denison, Haaland, and Goelzer, n.d.) include the dimensions of Involvement, Consistency, Adaptability, and Mission. The measurement of organizational Performance (Organizational Performance) refers to several variable interactions⁶ as well as organizational Performance and reputation.⁷

Research method

Based on the literature review and hypothesis above, this study examined the relationship between three variables: Servant Leadership as the independent variable, Organizational Culture as the mediator, and Organizational Performance as the dependent variable, as illustrated below.

In Figure 1, the questionnaire was measured using a 6-point Likert scale, where a value of 1 indicates a perception of “Strongly Disagree” and a value of 6 indicates a perception of “Strongly Agree.” The collected data were then analyzed using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method with the help of SmartPLS software.

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the relationship between servant leadership, organizational culture, and organizational performance.

This framework illustrates the four proposed research hypotheses:

H1 states that Servant Leadership influences Organizational Culture;

H2 states that Servant Leadership influences Organizational Performance;

H3 states that Organizational Culture mediates the relationship between Servant Leadership and Organizational Performance;

H4 states that Organizational Culture directly influences Organizational Performance.

Structural model

In the structural model, the first hypothesis (H1), which states that Servant Leadership affects on Organizational Culture, is well supported, with a coefficient of 0.870 and a t-statistical value of 20.753, exceeding the threshold of 1.645. The second hypothesis (H2), which states the direct influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Performance, is also supported by a coefficient of 0.618 and a t-statistic of 2.124. However, the third (H3) and fourth (H4) hypotheses, which test the role of Organizational Culture as a mediator and its direct influence on Organizational Performance, are not statistically supported because the t-statistical values are only 0.605 and 0.644, respectively, as shown in Table 3 in this repository.

Table 3. Value and significance of path coefficient.

No.	Path	Standardized coefficient	t-statistic (t>1.645)	Decision
H1	SL ---> OC	0,870	20,753	Supported
H2	SL ---> OP	0,618	2,124	Supported
H3	SL ---> OC ---> OP	0,213	0,605	Not Supported
H4	OC ---> OP	0,244	0,644	Not Supported

Overall, although structural models indicate that Servant Leadership has a significant influence on other variables, the quality of measurement for the constructs of Organizational Culture and Organizational Performance needs improvement, as shown in Figure 2. The low validity and reliability of the construct can have a profound impact on the overall interpretation of the structural model. Therefore, revisions are needed to the indicators used in the OC and OP constructs so that the model built can provide more accurate and reliable results. Based on the results of structural model testing, the first hypothesis (H1), which states that Servant Leadership has a positive effect on Organizational Culture, is supported by the data. A path coefficient value of 0.870 indicates that the relationship between these two variables is powerful, while a t-statistic value of 20.753, which far exceeds the significance threshold of 1.645, indicates that this relationship is also statistically significant. These findings suggest that a service-oriented leadership style significantly contributes to shaping a positive organizational culture, which aligns with the theory that service-oriented leaders tend to foster collaborative values, empathy, and commitment within organizations. Furthermore, the second hypothesis (H2), which states that Servant Leadership has a positive effect on Organizational Performance, also received empirical support. The path coefficient value of 0.618 and the t-statistic of 2.124 showed that the effect was positive and significant. This confirms that service-based Leadership not only has an impact on cultural aspects but also has a direct contribution to improving organizational Performance. These findings reinforce the argument that the characteristics of servant leaders—such as empowerment, humility, and member development—can create a productive work environment and support the achievement of organizational goals.

Figure 2. Empirical structural model of the relationships among constructs.

This figure presents the results of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis testing the relationships among constructs. Standardized path coefficients are shown for each relationship direction, followed by the p-value in parentheses. Significant paths are marked with an asterisk (*), indicating a significance level of < 0.05.

Servant Leadership significantly influences Organizational Culture (β = 0.870; p = 0.000) and Organizational Performance (β = 0.618; p = 0.017), but the indirect effect through Organizational Culture is not significant (β = 0.213; p = 0.273). The model explains 66.9% of the variance in Organizational Culture (Adj. R² = 0.669) and 68.9% of the variance in Organizational Performance (Adj. R² = 0.689).

In contrast, a third hypothesis (H3) presents a different outcome, which tests whether Organizational Culture mediates the relationship between Servant Leadership and Organizational Performance. The value of the mediation coefficient of 0.213, accompanied by a t-statistic of 0.605, which is well below the significance limit, indicates that the mediation effect is not significant. In other words, although Servant Leadership has an impact on both Organizational Culture and Organizational Performance, the indirect pathway through Organizational Culture does not make an additional meaningful contribution to Organizational Performance. This is most likely due to the weak validity of the Organizational Culture construct in the model, which can affect the overall power of mediation. The fourth hypothesis (H4), which states that Organizational Culture has a positive effect on Organizational Performance, is also not supported by data. A coefficient of 0.244 with a t-statistic of 0.644 indicates that the relationship is not statistically significant. These results suggest that within the context of the organizations studied, organizational Culture does not have a sufficiently direct impact on organizational Performance. The weak influence can also be attributed to the inadequate quality of measurement of the Organizational Culture and Organizational Performance constructs, as identified in the previous measurement model analysis.

Conclusion

Based on the results of data analysis using the PLS-SEM approach, this study found that Servant Leadership has a significant and positive influence on Organizational Culture and Organizational Performance. This suggests that a leadership style that emphasizes service, empathy, and empowering organizational members can strengthen organizational cultural values and directly contribute to improving organizational Performance. These findings underscore the importance of servant leaders in creating a healthy, productive, and results-oriented work environment. However, this study found no evidence to support the mediating role of Organizational Culture in the relationship between Servant Leadership and Organizational Performance. In addition, the direct influence of Organizational Culture on Organizational Performance is also not significant. This finding is noteworthy because it indicates that although leadership styles shape organizational Culture, they are not strong enough or have not been thoroughly internalized to drive organizational Performance or act as a mediator directly.

On the other hand, from the measurement aspect, this study also reveals limitations in the validity and reliability of the Organizational Culture and Organizational Performance constructs. The low AVE value in Organizational Culture and very weak reliability in Organizational Performance indicate the need to improve the measurement instrument in future studies. Some indicators in both constructs have low loading values and should be reviewed or replaced to represent the construct more accurately and consistently. Overall, this study confirms that Servant Leadership is an important factor that directly affects both the Culture and Performance of the organization. However, to understand the mechanism of the relationship between variables more comprehensively, especially the role of organizational Culture as a mediator, a stronger measurement instrument and a more consistent organizational context are needed for the application of cultural values. Thus, this research makes an empirical contribution and offers a critical perspective on the development of organizational management theory and practice, particularly in the context of social or nonprofit organizations.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was conducted by the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. The research protocol has been reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Pelita Harapan University, with approval number 078/PP PIVERI/V1/2025, dated June 18, 2025. The participants involved were wives of military veterans. All participants provided written informed consent before participating in the data collection session. Confidentiality and anonymity of participant data were strictly maintained throughout the study.

Supplementary materials

Supplementary materials related to this study include the questionnaire used during field data collection, participant information sheets, and one informed consent form from participants. In addition, raw interview responses and SPSS output tables (PATH COEFFICIENT RESULT) are available in the supplementary dataset. All supplementary files have been archived in an open-access repository and are publicly accessible through Zenodo at the following DOI: [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15762140].

Software availability statement

All statistical analyses in this study were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics version XX, a proprietary software licensed to the affiliated institution. As SPSS is closed-source software, no source code is available. All procedures were executed through its graphical user interface without the use of custom scripts or programming. To maintain transparency and support reproducibility, the anonymized interview dataset (PIVERI_anonymous_Questionnaire) and the path coefficient output table (PATH COEFFICIENT RESULT) have been deposited in an open-access repository. These files can be accessed via Zenodo at the following DOI: [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15762140]. Although no software code is available, the archived data outputs provide sufficient documentation to verify the analytical process, by open research principles.