Self- Sacrificial Leadership, a Participative Perspective: Phenomenological Approach

Extended Abstract
Abstract
Examining leadership models in today's complex and uncertain conditions suggests that competitive and hierarchical based traditional leadership models do not meet the environmental challenges facing organizations and the need to pay attention to follower-based leadership styles is being felt. For this purpose, the present study was conducted with the aim of discovering the meaning and fundamental structure of self-sacrificial leadership. The case study includes the operational staff of the emergency organizations (firefighters and medical emergency staff) in Mashhad. Eighteen individuals were chosen in a purposive sampling method to reach the point of theoretical saturation. The present study employs a phenomenological research strategy and Semi-structured interviews were used to gather data. Four measures of validity, transferability, dependability, and confirmability were emphasized to ensure the qualitative rigor of the present study. MAXQDA qualitative analysis software was used to classify the qualitative findings of the study. Based on the results of this study, thirteen sub-components were classified into three components. The discovered components of self-sacrificial leadership from the participants' point of view are ignoring material and spiritual assets, ignoring sources of power and self-sacrifice. Finally, based on the obtained components, a description of the meaning and structure of self-sacrificial leadership was provided. From the point of view of the operational forces of rescue organizations, the meaning of self- sacrificial leadership is a management style in which the commander and the operational manager, by emphasizing their ideals, sacrifice material and spiritual assets and sources of power, and finally the level of sacrifice of interests reaches its peak with self-sacrifice.
Introduction
Leadership has long been the focus of group and organizational behaviors research (Nabih et al., 2016; Steffens et al., 2020). Since leadership is intertwined with group membership (Steffens et al., 2020), one of the main characteristics of this concept is the emphasis on leaders achieving collective goals rather than personal goals (Braun et al., 2018).
According to previous research, one of the most effective ways to meet the needs of followers is self-sacrifice (Choi & Yoon, 2005; Liu et al., 2021). Numerous studies on many leaders, including the heads of associations, political leaders, or military leaders, discuss the leaders’ self-sacrifice in fulfilling others’ interests. Obviously, individuals value such behaviors while motivated by observing self-sacrificial behaviors (Raza Zaidi & Siddiqui, 2021).
Although some studies on self-sacrificial leadership have emphasized the unique role of self-sacrificial leadership in critical situations (Halverson et al., 2004) and the role of organizational context in promoting self-sacrificial leadership (Matteson, 2006), these studies are exclusive to business, religious, and military organizations (Matteson, 2006), and the rescue and relief organizations symbolizing self-sacrifice have not been considered. A review of the literature revealed that the quantitative studies are derived from studies on charismatic leadership. On the other hand, the behavioral components of this concept have been neglected in the leadership literature. Accordingly, it is deemed necessary to focus on the behavioral components of self-sacrificial leadership the rescue and relief organizations, which are always involved in a crisis, and whose operations are sacrifice-oriented.
Case study  
The purposive sampling method was used to select the study samples. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) Having experienced the considered phenomenon, and (2) having the ability to describe and express one’s experience clearly. The required data was collected using semi-structured interviews with 18 persons from the rescue and relief organizations in Mashhad. Regarding the place of service, 12 persons were working in the fire department, and six individuals were working in medical emergencies. After obtaining the interviewees' consent, the interviews were recorded and fully transcribed to ensure that no information was overlooked. In all the interviews, the participants were asked to express their experiences, thoughts, feelings, and understanding of self-sacrificial leadership and exemplify them.
 Materials and Methods
The present study employed descriptive phenomenology using Colaizzi’s framework. Regarding the nature of the phenomenology strategy, the phenomenology research strategy has been used. Considering the descriptive phenomenological strategy (Husserl) is based on the creation of the nature of a specific phenomenon, the explicit expression of the implicit structure, the nature of the phenomenon, and the meaning of human experiences, Husserl's phenomenological approach was used in this study.
Discussion and Results
After interviewing 18 firefighters and medical emergency operatives, Colaizzi’s eight-step method was used to extract the codes from the interviews. In the first step, which was done to study the written protocol, the statements obtained from the interview were transcribed. Then each of the transcribed texts was considered separately and read several times. In the second step, important propositions in the interviewees' descriptions were extracted. Then, duplicate sentences were removed from the categorized statements. After removing duplicate and highly similar items, 215 important propositions were extracted from all the interviews. In the third step, i.e., formulation of meanings, the participants’ meanings were extracted from their statements. In the fourth step, the extracted meanings were organized. First, similar compressed units were placed in a set. Then, similar semantic units were checked and labelled. At the end of this step, 215 propositions were classified into 13 sub-components. Finally, after analyzing the data in four step, three components were finalized. In the fifth step, the results were integrated with the form of a comprehensive description. In the sixth step, the comprehensive description of the previous step was formulated as an unambiguous statement to identify the phenomenon's main structure. From the point of view of operational forces of the rescue and relief organizations, the meaning of self-sacrificial leadership is as follows: "It is a management style in which the commander, emphasizing his ideals, gives up material and spiritual possessions and power resources; eventually, he reaches the peak of this trait with self-sacrifice." Finally, in the seventh and eighth steps, the participants were asked again for revalidation, and it was ensured that the descriptive results did not differ from their experiences and that no experience was missed.
Conclusion
The present study sought to comprehend the meaning of self-sacrificial leadership from the perspective of operational forces in the rescue and relief organizations. After analyzing the data, 13 subcomponents and three components were identified as the dimensions of self-sacrificial leadership. The main point highlighted by interviewees in this dimension is facilitating the obstacles. According to the interviewees, giving up the power resources with 19 identified instances is the second priority. This component refers to themes expressing the manager's disregard for official authority, the use of organizational structure and rules, and control of knowledge and information. The third identified component was the commitment of leaders. Self-sacrifice is the highest level of sacrifice that is at the heart of such organizations. The active forces in the participating organizations in the present research risk their lives by participating in difficult and breathtaking missions and giving up their lives to put out the fire or to save the patient's life. In addition to being a pioneer in high-risk situations, the commander in such organizations spare efforts to protect the lives of his followers. This implies that one of the hallmarks of self-sacrificial leaders is to undertake risky tasks for the collective good personally.