Gender Differences in Idea Championing Strategies

Abstract

Our research investigates the impact of idea implementation performance on status and leadership potential outcomes. We draw on expectation states theory (EST) as a framework to shed light on how others interpret the idea implementation performance of their peers and how these interpretations matter for social order and perceptions of leadership potential. Across two studies—a multisource panel study and an experiment—we find that high idea implementation performance leads to higher status and perceptions of leadership potential and these effects are conditional on the gender of the idea implementor. Specifically, the positive effect of idea implementation performance on status conferral is stronger for women than men. Conversely, the positive effect of idea implementation performance on leadership potential is stronger for men than women. In addition, we find that idea implementation is positively and indirectly related to status via proximal championing, while idea implementation is positively and indirectly related to leadership potential via higher-up championing. Our theory and findings thus offer nuanced insights into the outcomes of idea implementation and suggest that implementing ideas may be sufficient for women to gain status among peers but not enough to be seen as a leader.