Authentic Leadership and Team Members’ Outcomes: A Cross-level and Multi-level Analysis

Abstract

This study considers the multi-level research design to build on the Conservation of Resource (COR) theory to help develop a model that links authentic leadership to followers’ outcomes. Though previous studies have examined the direct effect of leadership and followers’ outcome at the individual level, findings of the impact of authentic leadership at the cross-level and multi-level are limited. Consistent with our hypotheses, the findings of the study, from a sample of 547 dyads from the financial sector in India, revealed that authentic leadership has a significant impact on authentic followership and team-level work engagement. The cross-level analysis indicated that 8.4 per cent of the variance in authentic followership is attributable to authentic leadership at the team level. Likewise, the multi-level analysis revealed that 9.4 per cent of the variance at work engagement between the teams is attributable to authentic leadership. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed furtherJEL: M12