An Online Transverse Study of Humble Leadership and Team Performance

Majd T. Mrayyan and Abdullah Algunmeeyn

SAGE Open, 2025, vol. 15, issue 3, 21582440251357239

Abstract: Humble leaders recognize their team’s efforts, encourage open communication, learn from mistakes, and motivate people to share ideas and concerns, all while striving for greater achievements. Humble leadership applies to both individual leaders and teams. This leadership style can lead to positive outcomes, including improved team performance. However, the extent to which humble leadership enhances team performance is not yet fully understood. Examining the impact of humble leadership on team performance can provide important insights into how various leadership styles influence overall team dynamics, particularly in high-stress settings such as hospitals and educational institutions. This research, which focused on faculty members, nurses, and students, highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration among different professional groups. The study aimed to investigate the predictors and differences in humble nursing leadership and team performance. The researchers recruited a sample of 252 faculty members, nurses, and students through a cross-sectional study conducted in 2022 in selected Jordanian public and private universities and hospitals. The study, using SPSS version 25, found that leaders and teams generally exhibited humble behavior, with an average rating of 3.67 ( SD  = 0.85). The highest two of the humble leaders were leaders’ receptivity to others’ views ( M  = 3.78, SD  = 1.08) and appreciating others’ strengths ( M  = 3.76, SD  = 1.12). Yet, the leader’s admission of not knowing something ( M  = 3.47, SD  = 1.11) and recognition of others’ superior knowledge and skills ( M  = 3.59, SD  = 1.11) were the lowest means. The highest two of a humble team were members’ willingness to learn from one another ( M  = 3.82, SD  = 0.97) and their openness to new ideas ( M  = 3.71, SD  = 1.04). However, the team had low means of acknowledging their lack of knowledge ( M  = 3.55, SD  = 1.00) and recognizing when others possess greater knowledge and skills ( M  = 3.64, SD  = 0.98). The team performed relatively well and effectively, with a mean of 3.51 ( SD  = 1.42). The highest two means of team performance were in team members expressing their diverse opinions ( M  = 3.60, SD  = 1.55) and all team members actively participating in discussions ( M  = 3.59, SD  = 1.67), contrary to the lowest two means observed when team members shared and received criticism without taking it personally ( M  = 3.29, SD  = 1.62) and when conflicts were resolved through compromise, with each member making concessions ( M  = 3.36, SD  = 1.59). A moderate positive correlation was found between humble leadership and team performance ( r  = .63, p  = .001). The years of work experience for the faculty members or nurses, as well as the level of study for the students, were shared predictors of humble leadership and team performance ( F  = 5.20, df  = 1, p  = .02, R 2  = .203, Adjusted R 2  = .07). The non-nursing students showed higher levels of humble leadership than the nursing students ( p  = .01). The individuals involved in quality initiatives in academic and healthcare settings demonstrated higher levels of humble leadership ( p  = .01). The nursing faculty members had superior team performance compared to the nurses and nursing students ( p  = .02) and also had better team performance than the non-nursing faculty members ( p  = .04). On the other hand, the nurses had higher team performance than the nursing faculty members and the nursing students ( p  = .03). Humble leadership significantly influences the overall performance achieved by a team.

Keywords: nursing; leadership; humble leadership; team performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:15:y:2025:i:3:p:21582440251357239

DOI: 10.1177/21582440251357239

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