Does employee humility Foster performance and promotability? Exploring the mechanisms of LMX and peer network centrality in China

Abstract

AbstractPrior research has shown that humility in the workplace can provide many advantages. However, the literature has largely focused on leaders rather than employees. There is an important distinction between the two, because leaders have already achieved professional success that may or may not be due to humility (i.e., survivorship bias), whereas employees may feel pressure to focus on behaviors seemingly at odds with humility (i.e., getting ahead). Drawing on the social capital theory of career success, this study investigates whether and how humility helps employees achieve both short‐term (job performance) and long‐term (promotability) job success. We posit that, in the Chinese context, humility can promote employees’ objective job performance and promotability by accessing social resources from team leaders and coworkers. The beneficial effects can be explained by the mediating effects of leader–member exchange and employee advice network centrality. We conducted a path comparison on the relationship between the mediators and career success to further explain the mechanisms, and tested the model using a three‐wave survey with a sample of 689 employees and their leaders from 137 teams. Our findings largely support our theoretical predictions and extend our understanding of employee humility and career development.