How and when humble leadership influences employee adaptive performance? The roles of self-determination and employee attributions
Leadership & Organization Development Journal
ISSN: 0143-7739
Article publication date: 9 January 2024
Issue publication date: 29 April 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The present study aimed to examine the relationship between humble leadership (HL) and employee adaptive performance by testing the mediating role of self-determination and the moderating role of employee attributions of HL.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-wave, two-source design was used to collect quantitative data from 301 employees and 45 direct supervisors of mainland Chinese enterprises. Testing the hypotheses was conducted through multiple regression analysis and moderated regression analysis.
Findings
Results showed that HL was positively related to employee adaptive performance. Additionally, the relationship between HL and employee adaptive performance was mediated by self-determination. Furthermore, this positive effect of HL on self-determination was minimized among employees who attribute HL to impression management motives but is insignificant for employees who attribute HL to performance improvement motives.
Originality/value
It has been widely concerned that the traditional “top-down” leadership styles are associated with employee adaptive performance; however, the role of bottom-up leadership styles on employee adaptive performance has only been sporadically examined. The present study introduced HL, a typical bottom-up leadership style and developed a moderated mediation model to investigate the potential effect of HL on employee adaptive performance. Moreover, by confirming the mediating role of self-determination, the authors further uncover how HL facilitates employees' adaptive performance. Meanwhile, the moderating role of employee attributions of HL found in this study offers new insights into the understanding of the effectiveness of HL.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding was received from the Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71802073), the Innovation Team “Research on Chinese Employment Relationship Management” of Philosophy and Social Science Research in Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province of China, The Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Top 100 Team “Employee Relations and Innovation Management in Digital Era” and Young Scientists Foundation of Innovative Research Team in Hubei University (HBQN0103).
Citation
Zhang, J., Javaid, M., Liao, S., Choi, M. and Kim, H.E. (2024), "How and when humble leadership influences employee adaptive performance? The roles of self-determination and employee attributions", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 45 No. 3, pp. 377-396. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-05-2023-0245
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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