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This study explored cooperation between members of two interdisciplinary teams of educators within the agricultural field in a northeastern state. A researcher-developed instrument was used to explore individual perceptions regarding interdisciplinary cooperation. Using qualitative methods, the researchers intended to bring to light the thoughts, feelings and perceptions of educators regarding both the benefits and successes they had encountered, as well as the barriers they had come across during their cooperative experiences. Results indicated several areas of overlap for the disciplines. Recognized advantages included programmatic improvement, time saved, workload reduction and an increase in available resources. Barriers mentioned include time constraints, lack of awareness combined with perceived programmatic differences, and the lack of relationships and networks across disciplines. Suggestions include further research on the subject of cooperation, as well as possible combined in-service training sessions, encouraging the development of relationships through pre-service means (i.e., a combined undergraduate course) and administrator education.

The purpose of this study was to measure the relationship between followers’ perceptions of the servant leadership of their immediate supervisor and followers’ sense of empowerment in the context of small businesses. A quantitative survey was completed by 116 employees of small businesses, including measures of supervisors’ servant leadership behaviors and followers’ self- perceived empowerment. Followers’ perceptions of being empowered were found to correlate positively with their ratings of the servant leadership behaviors of immediate supervisors. The findings support the researchers’ assertions that followers’ perceptions of being empowered will increase as supervisors’ servant leadership behaviors increase.

The power of servant leadership lies in the leader’s ability to unleash the potential and thus the power in those around them. Greenleaf (1977) ascribed greatness to the leader’s attention to followers, “When it is genuine, the interest in and affection for one’s followers that a leader has is a mark of true greatness” (p. 34). In the foreword to the Anniversary edition of Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership, Covey (2002) related empowerment to servant leadership. He acclaimed the importance of empowerment to the sustainable success of organizations in the 21st century. Organizations structured to support and encourage the empowerment of their employees will thrive as market leaders (Covey, 2002). While other leadership styles have been found to empower followers, it is agreed across current literature, that the focus on developing and empowering the follower as their primary concern is specific to servant leaders (Greenleaf, 1977; Parolini, Patterson, & Winston, 2009; Parris & Peachey, 2012; Stone, Russell, & Patterson, 2004; van Dierendonck, 2011).

The context chosen for the study was small business because of the crucial role it plays regarding job growth in the United States (Howard, 2006) and in “enriching the lives of men and women of the whole world” (Kayemuddin, 2012, p. 27). Servant leadership enables small business leaders to fully discover, develop, and employ follower potential through empowering behaviors.

This study sought to contribute to the empirical research of servant leadership by measuring the relationship between supervisors’ servant leadership behaviors and followers’ perceptions of empowerment within the context of small business.