Not the Time to be Humble! When and Why Leader Humility Enhances and Deteriorates Evaluations on Leader Effectiveness and Satisfaction with Leader

Shengming Liu, Jih‐Yu Mao, Ning Li and Zhang Yue

Journal of Management Studies, 2025, vol. 62, issue 7, 2707-2733

Abstract: Although leader humility is considered a desirable leader characteristic, an emerging research stream focuses on when leader humility may come at a cost. By integrating implicit leadership theories with the attentional focus model, we examine when followers perceive leader humility favourably and unfavourably due to valuing leader characteristics differently in different situations. We suggest that followers are more likely to value (disvalue) leader humility when there is less (more) time pressure. Specifically, followers are inclined to attribute leader humility as comprehensive (indecisive) when time pressure is low (high), resulting in high (low) evaluations on leader effectiveness and satisfaction with leader. The results of an experiment and a three‐wave survey support our predictions, which advances knowledge about the benefits and perils of leader humility and their underlying mechanisms.

Date: 2025
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