Servant leadership: positive impact on emotional intelligence, communication and cohesion

Training in Servant Leadership within the military is a priority, as it constitutes a transversal competence present throughout all years of university education. In this context, this paper analyzes the relationships between Servant Leadership and self-reported Emotional Intelligence, team Communication and group Cohesion. Specifically, it explores how self-perceived Emotional Intelligence and Communication relate to group Cohesion, using a sample of 418 students from Academia General Militar in Spain (85% male, with an average age of 21 years). Participants completed validated questionnaires assessing Servant Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Communication, and Cohesion. The relationship between Servant Leadership and Cohesion is positive and significant, partially mediated by Emotional Intelligence and Communication. These results contribute to advancing our understanding of reference models of Leadership in educational contexts, providing guidance for the development of teaching strategies in training institutions.