How leader humility helps teams to be humbler, psychologically stronger, and more effective: A moderated mediation model

The mediating role of psychological safety on humble leadership and presenteeism in Japanese organizations1

BACKGROUND

Presenteeism-induced productivity loss is a global concern. This issue is equally serious in Japan. As a "super-aged society," maintaining and promoting Japanese employees' health is an urgent issue. The combination of these factors makes it imperative to identify the factors that affect presenteeism and clarify the mechanisms driving these factors in Japanese organizations.

OBJECTIVE

Only a few extant studies address presenteeism as a performance variable. Presenteeism can create serious productivity losses in Japan, as it is a "super-aged society." Hence, this study aims to clarify the relationships between humble leadership, psychological safety, and presenteeism in Japanese organizations.

METHODS

We hypothesized that psychological safety mediated the effect of humble leadership on presenteeism. The data of 462 employees from 11 companies were analyzed.

RESULTS

The results supported our hypothesis. Additionally, leader humility, as perceived by the followers, was positively correlated with leaders' own psychological safety in their teams.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings contribute to the existing literature by highlighting the roles of humble leadership and psychological safety in health and productivity management while accounting for cultural influences. The practical implications of our findings and future directions are also discussed.

Does nursing leaders' humility leadership associate with nursing team members' psychological safety? A cross-sectional online survey

AIMS

The leader's ability to act with self-awareness, lead with generosity, and consider others' opinions is what defines humility leadership. In recent healthcare literature, there has been extensive exploration of humility leadership and psychological safety, but these studies were non-nursing. It is crucial to understand how humble leaders can empower their staff's psychological safety, as inclusivity is a key aspect of humility leadership and is closely linked to psychological safety. Therefore, this study examined the association between nursing leaders' humility leadership and team members' psychological safety.

DESIGN

A quantitative cross-sectional design was used in the current study.

METHODS

To assess the studied variables, 245 nursing academics, nurses, and nursing leaders were recruited from different universities and hospitals using the convenience snowball sampling technique, yielding a response rate of 70%. After a pilot study, an online survey using Google Forms was hosted in 2022.

FINDINGS

The psychological safety of nursing team members was not found to be associated with the humility leadership of nursing leaders. Despite the participants' reports of their nursing leaders exhibiting humility leadership (mean = 3.57/5, SE = 0.055), the participants also reported that psychological safety was borderline (mean = 3.09/5, SE = 0.041).

CONCLUSION

The borderline nursing team members' psychological safety implies that different types of leadership may have an impact on the psychological safety of nursing team members. The lack of association between nursing leaders' humility leadership and the psychological safety of nursing team members highlights the need for further understanding and effort from nursing leaders to establish psychologically safe work environments.

IMPACT

This research offers valuable insights into how the humility of nursing leaders impacts the psychological safety of nursing team members. The psychological safety of the nursing team members highlights the specific responsibilities that nursing leaders should assume to establish psychologically safe work environments.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

There was no Patient or Public Contribution, as the sample included nursing academics, nurses, and nursing leaders recruited from different universities and hospitals.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE/POLICY

A simple intervention that humble leaders can initiate is inclusivity, where subordinates' positive worth, strengths, and contributions are acknowledged. Inclusivity is a characteristic of humility leadership. Improving teams'' psychological safety calls to promote a culture of civility in the workplace. A random and larger sample is needed, including other types of universities and hospitals, using other research designs across other cultures.

Leader humility and employees' creative performance: the role of intrinsic motivation and work engagement

Drawing on the job demand-resource (JD-R) model and self-determination theory (SDT), this study examines the relationship between humble leadership and employees' creative performance, taking into account the sequential mediating role of intrinsic motivation and work engagement. The sequential mediation model was tested using two-wave questionnaire data collected from employees and their supervisors (n = 350) in the telecommunication sector of Pakistan. Data were processed and examined using SPSS and AMOS. The results revealed significant positive relationships among all variables. Further, it was found that intrinsic motivation and work engagement sequentially but partially mediated the positive relationship between humble leadership and creative performance. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed at the end.

The multilevel correlates, contributions, and consequences of leader humility in humanitarian aid work

Objective

Leader humility has been linked to many positive outcomes but not examined in humanitarian aid work. Three studies examined the multilevel correlates, contributions, and consequences of leader humility in Medair-a large, multinational, faith-based aid organization. Study 1 examined correlates of leader humility in a sample of 308 workers and 167 leaders. Study 2 explored multilevel contributions of leader humility in 96 teams comprised of 189 workers. Study 3 utilized a subsample (50 workers, 34 leaders) to explore consequences of Time 1 leader and team humility on outcomes 6 months later.

Method

Participants completed measures of humility (general, relational, team), leader and team attributions (e.g., effectiveness, cohesion, and growth-mindedness), organizational outcomes (e.g., job engagement and satisfaction; worker and team performance), and psychological outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety, compassion satisfaction, and flourishing).

Results

Leader and team humility contributed to multilevel positive attributions about leaders (as effective and impactful), teams (as cohesive, psychologically safe, and growth-minded), and oneself (as humble), and those attributions contributed to organizational and psychological outcomes. Teams' shared attributions of their leader's humility contributed to higher worker job satisfaction and team performance. Longitudinally, for workers and leaders, leader and team humility were associated with some positive organizational and psychological outcomes over time.

Conclusion

In humanitarian organizations, leader humility seems to act as an attributional and motivational social contagion that affects aid personnel's positive attributions about their leaders, teams, and themselves. In turn, these multilevel positive attributions contribute to several positive team, organizational, and psychological outcomes among workers and leaders.

The perceived leaders' authentic leadership, knowledge sharing within the team, and faculty members' creativity: A cross-sectional online survey in nursing academia

BACKGROUND

There hasn't been much recent research on leaders' authentic leadership, knowledge sharing within the team, and faculty members' creativity.

AIM

This study examined the perceived variables and predictors of academic nursing leaders' authentic leadership by their nursing faculty members, knowledge sharing within the team, and nursing faculty members' own creativity.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional design using a survey instrument was employed to answer the research questions.

METHODS

A convenience snowball sample of 105 academic nursing faculty members who worked at various universities in Jordan was recruited.

RESULTS

Academic nursing leaders' authentic leadership, knowledge sharing within the team, and nursing faculty members' creativity were perceived high by nursing faculty members. The highest and lowest means of the three concepts were reported. As evidenced by correlations, knowledge sharing within the team related to nursing faculty members' creativity without affecting academic nursing leaders' authentic leadership. The perceived academic nursing leaders' authentic leadership didn't predict knowledge sharing within the team or faculty members' creativity.

CONCLUSIONS

The current research fills critical voids in the reviewed literature. The results augment nursing leadership knowledge in academic settings. Academic nursing leaders' authentic leadership didn't predict knowledge sharing within the team or faculty members' creativity. These findings raise the flag; authentic nursing leadership should be synergized in conducive academic environments with other factors that may promote nursing faculty members' creativity, such as psychological safety and team environment.

Does inclusive leadership foster employee psychological resilience? The role of perceived insider status and supportive organizational climate

Introduction

Employee psychological resilience correlates with individual performance and well-being, which can help employees cope with work pressure under a complex situation. Drawing upon social identity and information processing theories, this paper explores how inclusive leadership stimulates employees’ psychological resilience by integrating the cross-level mediation effect of perceived insider status. This study scrutinized the moderating function of supportive organizational climate with inclusive leadership and employees’ perceived insider status, which expanded the inclusive leadership influence boundary.

Methods

This study used a cross-sectional survey design and collected two-wave data from individuals who are currently employed in the context of Chinese organizations. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the paired survey data of 220 employees of valid samples.

Results

Inclusive leadership was positively related to employee psychological resilience; Perceived insider status mediated the relationship between inclusive leadership and employee psychological resilience; The indirect relationship above is moderated by supportive organizational climate such that the positive relationship will be enhanced when the supportive organizational climate is high, rather than low.

Discussion

The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

More humility for leaders, less procrastination for employees: the roles of career calling and promotion focus

Purpose

Based on the conservation of resources theory, the authors explore the relationship between humble leadership and employee procrastination by introducing career calling and promotion focus, and constructing a moderated mediation model aiming to reveal the influence of humble leadership on employee procrastination.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 217 valid samples were obtained using a two-time point paired questionnaire. The proposed hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression.

Findings

Hierarchical regression results indicated that humble leadership had a significant negative effect on employee procrastination. Career calling played a fully mediating role in humble leadership and employee procrastination. Promotion focus not only plays a positive moderating role between humble leadership and career calling but also moderates the mediating role of career calling.

Practical implications

Managers should pay attention to the cultivation of their own character of humility in the process of communicating with their subordinates, increase employees' career calling from various aspects to improve employees’ sense of meaning and value for their work and understand employees' situation for personalized management.

Originality/value

This study reveals for the first time the inhibitory effect of humble leadership on employee procrastination through the conservation of resources theory. This helps in expanding research on the antecedents of procrastination behavior and enriching research on the effects of implementing humble leadership. For this reason, the study contributes to the literature on humble leadership, employee procrastination and the conservation of resources theory.

Positive leadership action framework: Simply doing good and doing well

This article presents the Positive Leadership Action Framework (PLAF) to structure Positive Leadership (PL). The novelty of the PLAF is that it incorporates the connections of PL to positive outcomes (financial and economic performance and social well-being) and organizational virtuousness. Also, it acknowledges its conditional nature on the virtues to achieve flourishing within the organization and society at large. We argue that the leader's actions function as the engine for positive change within the organization, bridging the gap between individual virtues and organizational virtuousness and creating a feedback loop among both. To develop a positive organization, a leader needs to create positive assumptions among (and about) coworkers, positively impact the personal and professional development of employees, and balance positive formal and informal conditions at work. To do so, it is a sine qua non condition that the positive leader fosters his/her personal development by exercising the virtues and developing practical wisdom. In this way, the positive leader automatically provides followers with a vision of the final end towards the common good and achieves to set his/her organization on a pathway towards excellence.

The role of humility in Chief Executive Officers: a review

Humility, defined as a multidimensional construct comprising an accurate assessment of one’s characteristics, an ability to acknowledge limitations and strengths, and a low self-focus, is a complex trait to potentially counterbalance detrimental effects of “negative” personal traits (e.g., narcissism), thereby making it relevant to researchers and practitioners in Management and Psychology. Whereas the study of the humility construct has become ubiquitous in Social Psychology, to our best knowledge, a review of the effects of humility in the contexts of company leaders (i.e., Chief Executive Officers) is lacking. Our systematic review suggests that CEO humility, directly and indirectly, affects a variety of individual, team, and organizational level constructs. Implications for research and practice are discussed, providing a future agenda for the construct to reach its full potential despite its relative novelty.

Team psychological capital and process improvement: an interactionist perspective

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between team psychological capital (PsyCap) and team process improvement (TPI) by focusing on the mediating role of team self-managing behaviors (TSMBs) and the moderating effect of the team reward system.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 514 members and their immediate superiors nested in 135 action teams working for a Canadian public safety organization. Hypotheses were tested using a path analytic procedure.

Findings

Team PsyCap was positively related to TPI, and this relationship was mediated by TSMBs. In addition, the team reward system positively moderated the first stage of this relationship.

Research limitations/implications

This study highlights the important role that motivational factors play in the effectiveness of action teams. Specifically, the present study reveals that the psychological resources of action teams interact with the level of recognition and reward they receive to predict members’ engagement in self-managing behaviors and in improvement processes.

Practical implications

Findings suggest that to promote the capacity for process improvement of actions teams, managers should focus on their positive psychological resources, their capacity to self-manage and on the level of recognition and reward they receive.

Originality/value

Considering the dynamic and complex environments within which action teams operate, the finding that team PsyCap promotes their optimal functioning is particularly noteworthy. Furthermore, this study clarifies why and when team PsyCap enhances TPI.

Examining the role of team climate, transactive memory system, and team leader humility in teams: an empirical study of Indian generational cohorts

Purpose

The study aims to define the term “generation” by proposing an integrated design based on age-period-cohort effects and by proposing an Indian generational cohort framework categorizing Indian generational cohorts into four categories, namely, Baby Boomers, GenX, GenY, and GenZ. The study further aimed to capture the existing generational differences between GenY and GenZ cohorts in the Indian teams on team climate, transactive memory system, and team leader humility.

Design/methodology/approach

For the first two objectives a literature review methodology along with the author's proposition was adopted. An integrated design was proposed by reviewing the relevant sociological literature to define generations. Thereafter, an Indian cohort framework was proposed categorizing them into four groups Baby Boomers, GenX, GenY, and GenZ. Following that, for the last objective, i.e. to identify the differences between cohorts, empirical data were collected by a structured questionnaire that was disseminated to GenY and GenZ Indian working professionals. A total of 229 responses were used for observing the differences or similarities between GenY and GenZ cohorts on the study variables by employing an independent samples t-test.

Findings

The study proposed an integrated design (age, period, and cohort effect). Following that, an Indian generational cohort's framework has been outlined categorizing Indian cohorts based on their birth years, age groups, developmental stages, formative years, major Indian historical events, and various characteristics possessed by them. Moreover, the empirical findings support the existing generational disparities and depict that GenZ holds a higher inclination towards transactive memory systems and team climate whereas GenY holds more inclination toward leader humility.

Practical implications

The study put forth its contribution to research scholars by categorizing Indian generational cohorts in a rationalized manner based on an integrated design (age-period-cohort) effect. The study would further assist concerned authorities and managers in formulating HR policies to deal with the underlying generational differences highlighted by the study.

Originality/value

As there lies a paucity of generational frameworks in the Indian context, this study is the first attempt in this direction which categorizes Indian generational cohorts based on a unique integrated design including age-period-cohort effects. In addition, the study also investigated these cohorts in Indian organizations to observe the existing variations.

Humble Leadership Benefits Employee Job Performance: The Role of Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi and Perceived Leader Integrity

Although humility is a hallmark of many beloved and respected leaders, yet little is known about the impact of humble leadership on employee job performance. Drawing on social exchange theory and attribution theory, the current study suggests a moderated mediation model to elucidate how and when humble leadership encourages follower job performance. Analyses of multilevel, multisource data from 204 subordinates and 68 supervisors showed that humble leadership and employee job performance via supervisor–subordinate guanxi is moderated by perceived leader integrity, such that the indirect and positive relationship between humble leadership and employee job performance via supervisor–subordinate guanxi would be strengthened when perceived leader integrity is high rather than low. Theoretical and practical implications as well as limitations and future directions are discussed.

Leader humility and team creativity: The role of team creative efficacy and task interdependence

Although research on leader humility is developing into a prominent literature, the majority of studies have focused on the dyadic or individual rather than collective outcomes of leader humility. Thus, our understanding of the influencing mechanisms and boundary conditions of leader humility remains limited, particularly on the collective work outcome of team creativity, which requires more voluntary effort from employees. Drawing on social cognitive theory and social interdependence theory, our study investigates how leader humility promotes team creativity through team creative efficacy, with the moderation of a contextual factor, task interdependence. We used a sample of 84 teams and 393 employees surveyed in two waves of data collection. Overall, our study yields a mediated moderation model in which the positive indirect effect of leader humility via team creative efficacy on team creativity is stronger when team task interdependence is low rather than high. This study extends our understanding of how leader humility may influence work teams collectively and how the effectiveness of such a leader characteristic may be influenced by a structural factor of the work team. Other theoretical contributions and practical implications are also discussed.

Exploring the impact of leader humility on different types of voice: the role of employee other-oriented motivations

Drawing on social learning theory and taking a motivational perspective, this study mainly investigates how leader humility can promote employees' other-oriented motivations, and uncovers the other-serving motivational mechanism through which leader humility can impact their employees' different types of voice behavior. By collecting data from 152 leader–subordinate dyads through an online survey, the results revealed that leader humility was positively related to both employees' prosocial motivation and organizational concern motivation. Meanwhile, these two motivations play mediating roles in explaining how leader humility can positively affect employees' supportive voice and challenging voice. It is noteworthy that leader humility, which features highlighting the value and strength of others, is more likely to trigger employees' prosocial motivation and thus influence their voice behavior. This research extends our understanding of leader humility, employee motivation, and workplace voice. Practical implications and limitations of the results are also discussed.

Effect of humble leadership on proactive work behavior: The mediating role of psychological empowerment among nurses

AIM

This study was designed to determine the effect of humble leadership on nurses' proactive behaviors at work through psychological empowerment.

BACKGROUND

Nurse leaders' humility has a profound effect on enhancing nurses' proactive work behavior; yet, the mechanism underlying this pattern of effect remains unknown.

METHODS

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in all nine Universal Health Insurance hospitals in Port Said, Egypt. Using scales for assessing leader humility, sychological empowerment, and proactive behavior at work, 316 nurses were surveyed. Regression analyses and structural equation models were used to examine the study hypothetical model.

RESULTS

The results revealed that humble leadership, psychological empowerment, and proactive work behavior were significantly positively correlated. Psychological empowerment fully mediated the relationship between humble leadership and proactive work behavior.

CONCLUSION

This study emphasized the value of humble leadership in psychologically empowering nurses, which results in greater proactive work behavior.

IMPLICATION FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Nurse managers should lead their nursing staff with humility, which could increase the level of nurses' psychological empowerment and proactive behaviors at work, which will be reflected positively on the staffs and the organization.

Humble Leadership and Team Innovation: The Mediating Role of Team Reflexivity and the Moderating Role of Expertise Diversity in Teams

The current study proposes a moderated mediation model to explain the relationship between humble leadership and team innovation. Our hypothesis integrates social information processing (SIP) theory with the existing literature on humble leadership. As a result, we theorize that when a humble individual leads a team, the team members are more likely to reconsider strategies, review events with self-awareness, share diverse information, and adapt to new ideas, which in turn promotes innovative team activities. Moreover, consistent with the research that emphasizes the inclusion of team culture in exploring leader-innovation relationships, we investigate the moderating role of a team's expertise diversity in the above positive, indirect relationship. We test our model by using both archival and survey data collected from 135 teams within 18 medium-to-large internet technology firms in China. The findings largely support our theoretical assertions, suggesting that humble leadership has important implications for team processes and innovation.

How Does Leader Humility Influence Team Creativity? The Roles of Team Behavioral Integration and Leader Performance

This study developed and tested a research model to examine the influence of leader humility on team creativity. Drawing on social learning theory, we tested team behavioral integration as a mediator in the relationship between leader humility and team creativity. Moreover, we tested the moderating effect of leader performance on this mediated relationship. We tested our hypotheses using a multiple-source research design. Data were collected from 275 employees in 67 work teams from a variety of industrial companies in Southeast China. The results confirmed that team behavioral integration mediated the relationship between leader humility and team creativity. Furthermore, the indirect effect of leader humility on team creativity via team behavioral integration was stronger when leader performance was higher (vs. lower). We discuss the implications of our findings for the theory and practice of leader humility.

The Digital Entrepreneurship Era: How to Motivate Innovativeness in Middle Management Teams? The Vertical Organisational Pervasiveness of Chief Executive Officer Entrepreneurial Orientation

Social information processing theory suggests that the chief executive officer’s entrepreneurial orientation (CEO EO) is an organisational signal that influences the members’ innovativeness. Middle management teams (MMTs) are expected to be more innovative as they connect senior managers with frontline managers in the dynamic competitive environment of the digital economy. How CEOs guide MMT innovations through EO becomes critical in the process of capturing opportunities and creating value. However, previous research has failed to adequately identify distinct CEO EO manifestations with organisational contexts configurations that influence MMTs innovation. Thus, based on differences in organisational contexts and MMTs’ cognition, this study thoroughly investigates how the vertical manifestation of CEO EO impacts the innovativeness of MMTs. We used fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on a sample of 117 organisations to determine which configurations of CEO EO vertical penetration within an organisation can stimulate MMT innovativeness. The study discovered four first-level configurations that support stimulating MMT innovativeness respectively when the CEO EO is fully or partially manifested, and without the CEO EO. Moreover, we found the internal reasons for MMTs’ information interpretation heterogeneity, which is critical for realising the coordination and unity of entrepreneurial cognition and behaviours. Finally, these findings’ theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Innovation in Teams: The Role of Psychological Capital and Team Learning

The main purpose of the present research was to analyze the relationship between team psychological capital and innovation, considering team learning as a mediating variable. A field survey was carried out, which included 124 work teams belonging to organizations from different sectors of activity. Hypotheses were tested through PROCESS. Results supported a direct positive relationship between team psychological capital and team innovation and an indirect influence of team psychological capital on team innovation, through team learning. The findings of this study highlight the role of team learning as an intervening process between team psychological capital and team innovation. Accordingly, managers should seek to develop team psychological capital and learning behaviors among their teams to promote innovation.

Managing the Uncertainties Inherent in Prohibitive Voice: How Leadership Interacts With Employee Political Skill

Drawing from the uncertainty management theory, we examine how authoritarian leadership and humble leadership interact with employee political skill to predict prohibitive voice. We conducted a two-wave survey study of 43 managers and 176 subordinates in a power company in China. Our findings indicate that authoritarian leadership has a minimal negative effect on the psychological safety of employees with higher political skill, which in turn leads to a minimal negative effect on their prohibitive voice. Moreover, humble leadership is positively associated with prohibitive voice for employees with lower political skill. For employees with higher political skill, no type of leadership behavior has a significant influence on their prohibitive voice. We outline the implications of these findings for both theoretical and managerial practices.

Challenging experiences: recommendations for promoting individual development

Purpose

Existing research on challenging experiences has focused primarily on the positive outcomes of these experiences for individuals and organizations. However, some studies have also highlighted the potential downsides to these experiences. This paper offers recommendations for organizations, including specific actions and interventions to foster development using challenging experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors reviewed the academic and practitioner literature on challenging experiences to formulate their recommendations.

Findings

Based on a review of the literature, the authors offer five recommendations for organizations to manage challenging experiences effectively and, thus, foster the development of their employees.

Originality/value

The authors hope that the adoption of their five recommendations may assist organizations in improving their leadership bench strength.

High involvement work practices often lead to burnout, but thanks to humble leadership

Purpose

Based on the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to investigate high involvement work practices (HIWP) as an antecedent to burnout with a mediating role of perceived work–family (WF) imbalance. Moreover, this study examines whether humble leadership moderates the relationship between HIWP and WF imbalance.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a time-lagged survey approach, data are collected from 200 employees working in the Indian services sector organizations.

Findings

The findings demonstrate that HIWP has a direct negative effect on burnout and an indirect effect via WF imbalance. Also, humble leadership moderates the relationship between HIWP and WF imbalance.

Originality/value

By studying the pessimistic view of HIWP in the Indian context, this study contributes to the scant studies available on its effect on burnout in collectivistic societies. Furthermore, humble leadership's moderating role in the relationship between HIWP and WF imbalance is unique to this study.

Humor of the Leader: A Source of Creativity of Employees Through Psychological Empowerment or Unethical Behavior Through Perceived Power? The Role of Self-Deprecating Behavior

Although we use humor in our daily communication, there still needs to cognize its effects on the attitudes and behavior of the employees. Based on benign violation theory (BVT), the study proposes that leader's humor (LH) conveys social information about counter norms. The BVT has been amalgamated with social information processing theory (SIPT) to develop hypotheses assuming the consequences of LH on the attitude and behavior of the employees. This study hypothesizes that even though LH is linked positively with employee creativity via leader-member exchange and psychological empowerment in sequence (blessing path), it may also send information to the employees about the acceptability of norm violation. This perception ultimately leads to power perception and, causes unethical behavior in the series (curse path). Moreover, this study also postulates that leader's self-deprecating humor (LSDH) moderates these indirect effects by enhancing the blessing and reducing the curse, which emerged from LH. Quantitative data of 630 software engineers from software houses based in Pakistan provided support to test the hypotheses. The results demonstrate that LH is a double-edge sword that enhances blessing (creativity) as well as curse (employee unethical behavior), whereas LSDH augments the blessing and throttles back the curse. Theoretical and managerial implications have also been discussed.

Watching you descend, I help others rise: the influence of leader humility on prosocial motivation

The fundamental nature of humility and prosocial motivation entails transcending self-interest to enact behaviors that benefit others. We theorize that leader humility may enact a self-transcendent contagion effect that will manifest in enhanced follower prosocial motivation. Due to the fundamental nature of humility, this construct holds great promise in understanding how contextual signals (i.e., leader behaviors) shape prosocial motivation in followers. In this study, we find that leader humility impacts follower prosocial motivation through followers' perception of work meaningfulness. Specifically, we found that leader humility is positively related to prosocial motivation. We also found that this relationship is mediated by followers' perception of work meaningfulness, and that this mediation is moderated by followers' perception of relational vitality. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Why and when do employees become more proactive under humble leaders? The roles of psychological need satisfaction and Chinese traditionality

Purpose

Drawing on self-determination theory, this study explored how leader humility affected employees' proactive behavior through satisfying their psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. Furthermore, based on a contingency view, this paper suggested Chinese traditionality as a significant boundary condition for the effects of leader humility.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 465 employees and 111 direct supervisors in China using a three-wave, two-source design. Hierarchical regression analyses and Hayes' PROCESS macro were applied to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results indicated that leader humility positively affected employee proactive behavior through the mediating mechanisms of psychological need satisfaction (i.e. autonomy, competence and relatedness). Furthermore, these positive effects were stronger among employees with lower Chinese traditionality beliefs.

Originality/value

Although prior research has examined the relationship between leadership and proactive behavior, most extant studies have focused on “top-down” leadership approaches, ignoring the effect of leader humility. Drawing on self-determination theory, the present study makes contributions to both the leader humility research and proactivity literature by identifying psychological need satisfaction as the mechanism and Chinese traditionality as the moderator.

Humble Leader Behavior and Its Effects on Performance at the Team and Individual Level: A Multi-Perspective Study

Drawing upon social information processing theory, this study builds a multilevel model to explore the effects of humble leader behavior on performance in teams. Time-lagged and multi-source data were gathered from 298 employees across 70 work teams. Results indicated that at the individual level, humble leader behavior was positively related to individual performance via organization-based self-esteem, while at the team level, humble leader behavior was positively related to team performance via team potency. Moreover, team cognitive diversity moderated the indirect effects of humble leader behavior on individual and team performances, such that the positive indirect effects were stronger for teams with high cognitive diversity than for those with low cognitive diversity. Implications and limitations are also discussed.

Changes in character strengths after watching movies: when to use rasch analysis

Objective

Professionalism is a critical part of a medical education, and various activities have been proposed to enhance professionalism among medical students. Watching films is an activity to promote character related to professionalism. Limitation of such is a single group pre-posttest design raising concerns about the errors of measurement. The study aimed to demonstrate a method to deal with this design using Rasch analysis.

Results

This study used a pre-posttest design with 40 first year medical students. All participated in a 3-day activity that involved watching four selected movies: Twilight, Gandhi, The Shawshank Redemption and Amélie. These films offer compelling illustrations of the themes of self-regulation, humility, prudence and gratitude, respectively. All participants completed a 10-item composite scale (PHuSeG) addressing these themes before and after watching the movies. When determining who benefitted from the intervention, paired t-tests on the results of a Rasch analysis were used to evaluate changes between pre- and posttest. Using Rasch analyses, we could document the stability of the items from pre- to posttest, and significant changes at both the individual and group levels, which is a useful and practical approach for pre- and posttest design. Moreover, it helps validate the psychometric property of the instrument used.

Multi-Level Effects of Humble Leadership on Employees' Work Well-Being: The Roles of Psychological Safety and Error Management Climate

Employees’ work well-being (WWB) is vital to employees’ performance and organizations’ sustainable development. This study aims to explore the role of psychological safety and error management climate (EMC) between humble leadership and WWB in Chinese organizations. Drawing upon social information processing theory, a multi-level study was conducted to test the underlying mechanisms between humble leadership and employees’ WWB. A time-lagged data of 221 team members was collected from 12 small and medium sized companies in China. Results showed that team-level humble leadership was positively related to WWB. Psychological safety and EMC both played a partial mediating role linking humble leadership and WWB. EMC positively moderated the relationship between humble leadership and psychological safety. This paper contributes to revealing the multi-level effects of humble leadership on work well-being. These findings also provide some important implications for managerial practices.

The Entrepreneur's Psychological Capital, Creative Innovation Behavior, and Enterprise Performance

In order to analyze the relationship between entrepreneur psychological capital, creative innovation behavior, and enterprise performance based on the actual situation of Chinese enterprises and provide a theoretical basis for the application of entrepreneur psychological capital in enterprise innovation and performance development, in this study, 536 entrepreneurs from 517 enterprises in different fields in Anhui region were selected, and a questionnaire survey on the psychological capital of entrepreneurs, creative innovation behaviors, and corporate performance was conducted. A hypothesis model of the relationship between entrepreneur’s psychological capital, creative innovation behavior, and enterprise performance was constructed. The correlation between entrepreneur’s psychological capital, creative innovation behavior, and enterprise performance and the intermediation of creative innovation behavior were analyzed using multiple-regression model and structural equation model. The results show that there is a significant positive correlation between dimensions of self-efficacy (regression coefficient = 0.682, p = 0.000), toughness (regression coefficient = 0.526, p = 0.000), and enterprise performance; there is a significant positive correlation between the dimensions of optimism (regression coefficient = 0.471, p = 0.003), hope (regression coefficient = 0.590, p = 0.006), and enterprise performance; there is a significant positive correlation between entrepreneurs’ technological innovation behavior (regression coefficient = 0.506, p = 0.000), business innovation behavior (regression coefficient = 0.562, p = 0.000), and enterprise performance; there is a significant positive correlation between entrepreneurial relationship acquisition behavior (regression coefficient = 0.632, p = 0.004) and enterprise performance. Taking entrepreneurs’ creative innovation behavior as the intermediary variable, the authors conclude that the dimensions of entrepreneurs’ self-efficacy, hope, optimism, toughness, and the standardized path coefficient of enterprise performance are significantly reduced; through the analysis of structural equation model, it is found that the fitting index of the model of entrepreneur’s psychological capital, creative innovation behavior, and enterprise performance meets the fitting standard, which shows that both the psychological capital and the creative innovation behavior of entrepreneurs can promote the improvement of enterprise performance. Entrepreneur’s creative innovation behavior plays an intermediary effect in the positive influence of entrepreneur’s psychological capital on enterprise performance.

Can CEO’s Humble Leadership Behavior Really Improve Enterprise Performance and Sustainability? A Case Study of Chinese Start-Up Companies

The relationship between the leadership behavior of a chief executive officer (CEO) and start-up enterprise performance is key to effecting the survival and development of start-ups in the era of the internet economy. Currently, most studies on this topic focus more on the role of leadership effectiveness but rarely explore the CEO’s humility in leadership and the mechanism of its behavior affecting enterprise performance and its sustainable development. Based on leadership theory and upper-echelon theory, we build a research model of CEO’s humble leadership behavior, top management team’s (TMT’s) transactive memory system, and start-up enterprise performance, as well as the moderating roles exerted by strategic flexibility. Further, to validate the hypothesis, 400 valid questionnaires are obtained. Based on those data, the empirical results show humility, as a virtue, not only can significantly and positively improve start-up firm performance but also can promote the firm’s sustainable development in the long run by providing a trustworthiness climate for TMT members. Moreover, TMT’s transactive memory systems play a partial mediating role in the relationship between CEO’s humble leadership behavior and start-up enterprise performance. Meanwhile, strategic flexibility significantly and positively moderates the relationship between CEO’s humble leadership behavior and startup entrepreneurial performance. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and directions for future research are proposed.

Impact of humble leadership on project success: the mediating role of psychological empowerment and innovative work behavior

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the impact of humble leadership on project success. The mediating effects of psychological empowerment and innovative work behavior on the relationship between humble leadership and project success are tested.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 337 individuals employed in the civil construction sector of Pakistan.

Findings

The results showed that humble leadership is positively related to project success. Furthermore, psychological empowerment and innovative work behavior partially mediate the relationship between humble leadership and project success.

Originality/value

Drawing on conservation of resource theory, this study found that how humble leadership is important for project success and thus extends the utility of the concept of humble leadership to the project literature.

Employee-Organization Relationships and Team Performance: Role of Team Collective Efficacy

Besides the previous social relationship perspective of employee-organization relationship (EOR) research, this study takes the social cognitive perspective to explore the role of team collective efficacy in mediating the relationship between EORs and team performance. This study further contends that team cohesion moderates the positive relationship between collective efficacy and team performance, thereby moderating the indirect relationship between EORs and team performance through collective efficacy. Data analyses of 231 teams in Study 1 and 63 teams in Study 2 support the hypotheses. Therefore, this study provides theoretical contributions to the EOR literature by introducing a new perspective at the team level and to the social cognitive literature by discussing a boundary condition of the effect of collective efficacy on team performance.

Humble Leadership Affects Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Sequential Mediating Effect of Strengths Use and Job Crafting

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the impact of humble leadership on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and the sequential mediation effect of strengths use and job crafting on the relationship. Data were collected at two points in time, spaced by a 2-week interval, with a sample of 260 employees working in a hospital in Beijing, China. Structural equation modeling was applied to test our predictions. The results indicated that humble leadership is positively related to OCB; the relationship between humble leadership and OCB was mediated not only by job crafting but also by strengths use and job crafting (sequential mediation). However, the indirect effect of humble leadership on OCB through the mechanism of strengths use was not statistically significant. This study advances the theory and research on the leadership–OCB relationship.

Can leader humility enhance employee wellbeing? The mediating role of employee humility

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between leader humility and employee well-being. Based on social information processing (SIP) theory and previous literature concerning leader humility, this paper identifies employee humility as the mediator and suggests that perceived leader effectiveness moderates these relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed a survey involving 228 employees to test the hypothesized moderated-mediation model.

Findings

Leader humility is positively related to employee well-being. Employee humility mediates leader humility and employee well-being, except for emotional exhaustion. Moreover, the effect of leader humility on employee humility and the indirect effect of leader humility on employee job satisfaction and work engagement are stronger under high perceptions of leader effectiveness.

Originality/value

Based on the framework of SIP theory, this paper contributes to the literature on humble leadership and employee well-being by treating employee humility as the mechanism and perceived leader effectiveness as the moderator. Few previous studies have investigated the influence of leader humility on employee well-being.

Humble leadership and innovative behaviour among Chinese nurses: The mediating role of work engagement

AIM

This study aimed to investigate the effect of humble leadership on innovative behaviour among Chinese nurses and to examine the mediating role of work engagement in this relationship.

BACKGROUND

Nurses' innovative behaviour and work engagement are critical to the quality of health care services. Although research has established that leadership is beneficial for individuals, teams and organisations, it's less clear whether humble leadership could promote innovative behaviour and work engagement among nurses.

METHODS

The data were collected in China. A sample of 377 nurses completed measures of humble leadership, innovative behaviour and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Structural equation model was adopted to verify the research hypotheses.

RESULTS

Humble leadership was significantly and positively related to nurses' innovative behaviour and work engagement (p < .01). And work engagement partially mediated the association between humble leadership and innovative behaviour.

CONCLUSION

Humble leaders are critical to enhancing nurses' innovative behaviour, and work engagement plays an intervening mechanism explaining how humble leaders promote innovative behaviour among nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Hospital managers should pay attention to improve head nurses' humble leadership, which could lead to a higher level of innovative behaviour and work engagement among nurse.

The Dark Side of Expressed Humility for Non-humble Leaders: A Conservation of Resources Perspective

Although existing studies to date predominately focus on the beneficial effects of leader expressed humility on followers, knowledge about how those behaviors impact the leaders themselves is scarce. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, we develop and test a model that specifies for whom and how expressing humility has detrimental effects on leaders' emotional exhaustion and the downstream implications of this effect for leaders' turnover intentions and work-to-family conflict. Data from a multisource, time-lagged survey of 55 team leaders and 281 followers showed that expressed humility was positively associated with leaders' emotional exhaustion when Honesty-Humility was low, after controlling for Emotionality, sleep quality, overall job satisfaction, and hindrance stressors. In addition, we found that expressed humility was positively and indirectly related to leaders' turnover intentions and work-to-family conflict via emotional exhaustion when Honesty-Humility was low. Overall, our research sheds light on why and under what conditions the dark side of humble leader behaviors is going to emerge and take its toll on the leaders themselves. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Power and leadership

Social collectives often grant power to leaders so they can facilitate collective performance. At present, there is no comprehensive overview of how power influences the effectiveness of different influence mechanisms leaders use to achieve this goal. To help develop such an overview, I review recent research on the positive and negative effects of power on some of these influence mechanisms: leaders' punishment of norm transgressions, concern for followers, and procedural fairness enactment. I also highlight the role of individual differences and contextual factors in these processes. I end by discussing implications and future research directions.

Psychological Capital, Team Resources and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

The study aimed to examine the impact of team resources - learning values and team leader optimism - as moderating variables affecting the relationship between team psychological capital (PsyCap) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), measured as a team outcome. Eighty-two management teams involving 395 participants from educational organizations responded to a quantitative questionnaire. Hierarchical regression analyses confirmed interactive effects of both moderating variables, which serve as positive resources for the team by enhancing the impact of team PsyCap on the willingness of the team to engage in OCB. Team PsyCap functioned as a positive team resource that brings about an environment that induces exhibition of high levels of OCB. This relationship is strengthened when both team learning and team leader's optimism are high. The findings provide support for the relevance of contingency theories by emphasizing the necessity of certain situational features existing in order to have an impact on organization outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Being Passionate to Perform: The Joint Effect of Leader Humility and Follower Humility

Although humility is an outstanding characteristic of many beloved and respected leaders, little is understood regarding the effect of leader humility on follower job performance. The current study examines how leader humility affects follower performance. Drawing on the self-determination theory, we suggest that leader humility, via follower harmonious passion, contributes to follower performance. With multiphase leader-follower paired data, we find that leader humility is positively related to follower performance, this positive relationship is partially mediated by follower harmonious passion, and the indirect effect of leader humility on follower performance via follower harmonious passion is stronger with a high level of follower humility.