Effects of (In)Congruence in Leader-Team Proactive Personality

Abstract

This research investigates the congruence and incongruence effects of leader-team proactive personality on team cohesiveness and collective team identification, which in turn affect team performance. Drawing on dominance complementarity theory, we propose that the incongruence of leader-team proactive personality exerts positive influence on team performance through team cohesiveness and collective team identification. In addition, we hypothesize that the congruence in leader-team proactive personality has an inverted-U shaped relationship with team cohesiveness and collective team identification, thus affecting subsequent team performance. Using a sample composed of 286 team leaders, 1,893 team members, and 286 manufacturing work teams, our hypothesized relationships received empirical support. Our findings provide a deeper understanding of how (in)congruence in personality traits functions differently at the team level. Our findings highlight both leader-team complementarity and a middle (rather than high/low) leader-team congruence in proactive personality facilitated key team processes and performance outcome.