How Humble Leadership Affects Voluntary Green Behavior and Green Performance? The Roles of Job Autonomy and Green Supporting Climate in Hotels

Abstract

The relationship between the humble behavior of leaders and the voluntary workplace green behaviors (VWGB) of their employees is critical to affecting the overall green performance of an organization, particularly in the situation of COVID-19 pandemic. Traditionally, most studies focus more on the importance of leadership effectiveness, but few research studies investigate the leadership approach and its psychological mechanisms that motivate voluntary positive behavior and the efficiency of the overall performance. Thus, the authors conceptualize a research model of humble leadership that investigates the impact of humble leadership on voluntary green behavior and green performance via job autonomy and the green supporting climate. To verify the research hypotheses, 692 online and in-person questionnaires were analyzed using Smartpls-SEM. The results showed a positive association between humble leadership and green performance, and VWGB mediates this relationship. In addition, job autonomy and green supporting climate were confirmed to mediate the association of humble leadership and VWGB; and moderate the relationship of VWGB and green performance, respectively. Notably, this study is one of the few studies in the hotel sector that look at green performance through the lens of humble leadership and VWGB.