Does leader humility matter? Effects on altruism and innovation

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of leader humility in firm innovativeness. The study highlights the importance of promoting altruism within organizations as a mechanism that may explain why leader humility fosters innovation. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted in a sample frame of 11,594 Spanish companies. In total, 568 valid questionnaires were obtained and 284 different companies participated in the study. Structural equations were used to validate the proposed hypotheses. Findings All the hypotheses proposed in the conceptual model were confirmed. Results provide empirical evidence of the positive relationship between leader humility and firm innovativeness, as well as the mediating role played by altruism. In other words, leader humility promotes altruism and, in turn, firm innovativeness. Research limitations/implications The sample of companies is heterogeneous in terms of firm turnover, size, export ratio and age. The study is focused on firm innovativeness and only studies altruism as a mediating variable in the relationship between leader humility and firm innovativeness. Practical implications The present study provides some guidelines which may help companies to improve their competitiveness, enhancing workplace conditions. Originality/value There are few empirical studies that analyze the effect of humble leaders or leader humility on innovation. The main value of the present research is to further the current knowledge of this relationship by disentangling the mediating effect of altruism within organizations.

Impact of humble leadership on project success: the mediating role of psychological empowerment and innovative work behavior

“…Humble leaders can psychologically empower followers by inducing many features of self-concepts (Owens et al , 2013). For example, humble leadership acknowledges the contribution of the subordinates to the organizational goals (Mallén et al , 2019; Naseer et al , 2019), treats the followers with compassion, respect and admiration (Argandona, 2015) that give the feelings to the subordinates that their work is meaningful for them and have an impact over organizational outcomes (Chen et al , 2018). Humble leaders also give value to their followers' contributions and suggestions that enhance followers' confidence (Jeung and Yoon, 2018) and self-efficacy about their jobs (Bandura, 1986; Conger and Kanungo, 1988) and enhance their level of competence.…”

“…Innovation occurs when an employee develops, promotes and implements new ideas as critical components of IWB (Janssen, 2000). Humble leadership role reflects the appreciation of subordinates' expertise (Mallén et al , 2019) that develops self-confidence among the subordinates to practice their creative thinking (Zhang and Zhou, 2014). IWB can lead the employees to quickly resolve work-related problems (Zhou and Wu, 2018), which is an essential determinant of organizational success (Scott and Bruce, 1994).…”

Can Leader Humility Enhance Project Management Effectiveness? Interactive Effect of Top Management Support

“…According to Murat Ar and Baki 79 , idea-generating includes promoting new ideas, marketing good ideas, developing solutions, and inspiring workers to discover innovative conduct to solve problems. Mallén, et al 9 also indicated that humble leadership's impact on creativity would be more substantial where specific organisational environments facilitate idea generation existing and involved rather than inactive or absent. Risktaking and idea implementation are closely associated with innovation 80 .…”

“…Humble leadership promotes followers to put on fresh ideas and generate an environment where innovative approaches are encouraged to inspire workers to establish inventive solutions before a suitable method is selected 6 . Furthermore, the humble leader makes their subordinates resilient toward precariousness by teachability and responsiveness to criticism and encourages their team members to attempt new things based on trial and error (Mallén et al, 2019) that stimulate creativity among them the followers 35 .…”

“…Employee creativity raises valuable ideas from individuals or working groups 8 . Humble leadership is embodied in recognising subordinates skills, which build self-confidence in their innovative thinking among subordinates' expertise 9 . Zheng, et al 10 emphasise the need for empirical work in an essential way of creativity in a project context.…”