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This dissertation presents three separate studies designed to provide systematic and evidence-based insight into how servant leadership could be a crucial success factor in helping non-profit organizations (NPOs) hosting cause-related sporting events achieve their missions. Thus, the purpose of my dissertation was to advance the literature and the practice of servant leadership. In Study one, I conducted a systematic literature review of studies that explored an application of servant leadership. A disciplined screening process resulted in a sample population of 39 studies. The synthesis of these applied studies revealed: a) there is no consensus on the definition of servant leadership; b) servant leadership is being applied across a variety of contexts, cultures, and themes; c) researchers are using multiple measures to explore servant leadership; and d) these studies provide strong evidence that servant leadership helps organizations and improves the well-being of followers. In Study two, I explored the leadership style of the founder of a cause-related sporting event to understand how this leadership style motivated volunteers. This was achieved through semi-structured personal interviews, document analysis, and personal observations of the 25th National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Surf Festival. Results indicated that the founder was a servant leader who influenced volunteer motivation by generating a shared vision dedicated to helping others, building a caring and loving community, and creating the freedom and resources for followers to become servants themselves. In Study three, using a longitudinal case study, I qualitatively explored if a cause-related sporting event could inspire participants to become servant leaders, and if so, how does the event achieve this? Data collection methods included focus groups, open-ended qualitative questionnaires, direct observations, document analysis, and semi-structured personal interviews with participants of the U.S. NKF Transplant Games, specifically Team Florida. Analyses revealed the event inspired participants to serve others and helped to build a community of servant leaders. It was found that three specific mechanisms of the Games generated community-level outcomes, which led to impacts on participants and helped them develop servant leadership. I then developed a model to describe a cause-related sporting event's ability to inspire participants to become servant leaders.

Det har genomförts omfattande forskning inom ledarskap på vinstdrivande företag men området avseende ideellt ledarskap har blivit försummat. Tidigare studier har föreslagit transformational leadership som ett produktivt ledarskap inom sport, där utvecklande ledarskap är den svenska motsvarigheten till teorin. Ridsporten är en av de få sporter där utövaren behöver förhålla sig till ett levande och potentiellt farligt djur, vilket kan skapa krav på ett mer konventionellt ledarskap.  I denna studie undersöktes ledarskapet på lokal och nationell nivå via lokala ridklubbar i två olika städer samt på Svenska Ridsportförbundet (SvRF) för att fastställa hur ledarskapet bedrivs inom ridsporten. En jämförelse av de lokala klubbarna kontra SvRF har sedan genomförts med teorierna om utvecklande ledarskap samt job characteristics model som teoretisk förankring. Studien är deduktiv med en kvalitativ ansats. För att besvara forskningsfrågorna så har semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomförts med respondenter inom ledarposition på lokala ridklubbar och SvRF. Studien ämnar ge en bredare teoretisk förståelse till ideellt ledarskap inom ridsport.  Resultatet visade att ett utvecklande ledarskap brukades främst och väldigt få inslag av konventionellt ledarskap påträffades. Flera inslag av job characteristics model påträffades också. Resultatet visade även på väldigt få skillnader mellan lokal nivå kontra nationell nivå. Framtida studier skulle även kunna fokusera på en enda verksamhet för att få en djupare förståelse för det ideella ledarskapet. / There is extensive existing research within the leadership of for-profit organizations but the area surrounding non-profit leadership has been neglected. Previous studies have suggested transformational leadership as a productive leadership within sports, where developmental leadership is the Swedish version of the theory. Equestrian sport is one of the few sports where the practitioners need to adapt to a living and potentially dangerous animal, which could create a need for a more conventional leadership.  In this study the leadership within local equestrian clubs in two different cities and the Swedish equestrian federation (Svenska Ridsportförbundet, SvRF) was examined in order to determine how leadership is conducted within the equestrian sport. A comparison of the local clubs versus SvRF has then been conducted with the theories of developmental leadership and job characteristics model as the theoretical framework. The study is deductive with a qualitative approach. To answer the research questions semi-structured interviews have been conducted with leadership representatives within local equestrian clubs and SvRF. The study aims to deliver a wider theoretical understanding of non-profit leadership within equestrian sport.  The result of the study showed that developmental leadership was mainly used with very few elements of conventional leadership. Several elements of the job characteristics model were also encountered. The result of the study also pertained to very few differences between the local and national level. Future research could focus on a single organization to gather a deeper understanding of non-profit leadership.