How Employee’s Leadership Potential Leads to Leadership Ostracism Behavior: The Mediating Role of Envy, and the Moderating Role of Political Skills

Ying Xue, Xiyuan Li, Hongmei Wang and Qiu Zhang
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Ying Xue: Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Xiyuan Li: Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Hongmei Wang: Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Qiu Zhang: Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: Recently, research on the leadership potential of employees has gradually attracted the attention of scholars. However, further exploration is required to better understand the upward influence of employee’s leadership potential on their leaders. This study examined the mechanisms behind the impact of employee’s leadership potential on leadership ostracism behavior. Moreover, the mediating role of leader’s envy and the moderating role of employee’s political skills in the relationship between employee’s leadership potential and leadership ostracism behavior were investigated. The results of an empirical analysis of 221 employee–leader pairs, studied over multiple periods, are as follows: employee’s leadership potential had a significant positive impact on leader’s envy and leadership ostracism behavior; leader’s envy had a significant positive impact on leadership ostracism behavior; and leader’s envy mediated the relationship between leadership potential and leadership ostracism behavior. In addition, employee’s political skills negatively moderated the indirect effect of leadership potential on leadership ostracism behavior through leader’s envy. The leadership potential of employees with more political skills appeared to have less influence on organizational ostracism via leader’s envy. This study explored the “dark-side” of employee’s leadership potential by understanding its impact on their leaders; the findings have theoretical and practical significance for companies.

Keywords: leadership potential; envy; leadership ostracism behavior; political skills (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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