A model of leadership motivations, error management culture, leadership capacity, and career success

Abstract

We integrated ideas from literature on error management culture, leadership motivation, and career development to create several contributions for the research literature. First, we examined two situational factors – error management/aversion culture perceptions – that affect employees’ leadership‐relevant motivations. Second, we distinguish between two types of leader motivations, motivation to lead (MTL) and motivation to develop leadership skills (MTDL). We offer evidence of discriminant and predictive validity of the two leadership motivations on key leadership processes and outcomes. Third, we tested a linkage model in which error management/aversion perceptions influenced leadership motivations (MTL and MTDL) and these motivations predicted leadership capacity and leader career success (i.e., promotions, increased leadership responsibility, and pay increases). Based upon multisource data collected from 151 employees and their supervisors from diverse occupations and organizations over a period of 1 year, we found that error management perceptions were positively associated with social‐normative MTL (the motive to lead out of a sense of duty and obligation) and with MTDL whereas perceptions of error aversion were negatively related with affective‐identity and non‐calculative MTL. MTDL was distinguishable from MTL and demonstrated better predictive validity on leadership capacity and career success than MTL. We discuss a number of implications for both theory and practice.Practitioner Points Creating a culture in which errors are constructively managed enhances leadership motivations, leadership capacity (leader behaviour, development, and potential), and career success. In managing leadership development and performance, distinguishing between motivation to be a leader and motivation to develop leadership skills is important, both in terms of how these motivations are influenced by error management and aversion and in terms of the how the motivations influence leadership capacity and success. Motive to lead out of a sense of duty is key.