How to Handle Divided Teams? Team Faultlines, Sense of Powerlessness and Autocratic Leadership

Abstract

Previous studies have discussed about the effects of team faultlines on intrateam processes and outcomes, little attention has been paid the potential influence team faultlines have leaders’ power perception and behavior. By introducing theories of social power into team faultlines literature, we proposed that team faultlines, combined with managerial self-efficacy, will have a significant impact on leaders’ subjective sense of powerlessness, which in turn affects their autocratic leadership. The results based on a sample involving 58 teams provide supports for our hypotheses. Managerial self-efficacy was found to moderate the relationship between team faultlines and leaders’ sense of powerlessness, and sense of powerlessness was positively related to autocratic leadership. In addition, we also found that the interaction term of team faultlines and managerial self-efficacy indirectly influences autocratic leadership through sense of powerlessness. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.