Examining Reciprocal Relationships between Leader Humility and Team Voice

Abstract

There is a scarcity of research on antecedents of leader humility and how team members may help leaders to become humble over time. We examine a longitudinal model on reciprocal relationships between leader humility and team voice, and how team voice carries through the effect of humble leaders on team collective turnover intention. We also investigate the moderating role of team procedural justice climate. Using three waves of repeatedly measured data from 411 work teams, we found positive, reciprocal relationships between leader humility and team voice over time (i.e., an upward spiral). The positive effect of leader humility on subsequent team voice is stronger when team procedural justice climate is high. In contrast, the positive effect of team voice on subsequent leader humility is stronger when procedural justice climate is low. Furthermore, team voice mediates the effect of leader humility on subsequent turnover intention of the team as a collective.