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How and when humble leadership influences employee adaptive performance? The roles of self-determination and employee attributions

Junting Zhang (School of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China)
Mudaser Javaid (Economic and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China)
Shudi Liao (Business School, Hubei University, Wuhan, China)
Myeongcheol Choi (Department of Business, Gachon University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea)
Hann Earl Kim (Department of Business, Gachon University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea)

Leadership & Organization Development Journal

ISSN: 0143-7739

Article publication date: 9 January 2024

Issue publication date: 29 April 2024

1289

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

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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