LEADERS’ HUMILITY: A PROMOTER OR INHIBITOR OF SUBORDINATES’ WORK PASSION? A MEDIATED MODERATION MODEL

Abstract

In today’s overwhelmingly turbulent setting, every organization needs a passionate workforce that can act as its unique proposition. Researchers suggest that the subordinates’ work passion is contingent upon various work contexts, of which, leadership is the most significant one. There is a prevailing consensus that leaders’ humility is a favorable tool for all organizational stakeholders, especially subordinates. The literature about leaders’ humility is still skewed towards its treatment as generally beneficial for organizations, without considering the role of interpersonal factors or evaluation of perceived speculations. Using attribution theory’s lens, this research has; therefore, examined the relationship between leaders’ humility and subordinates’ work passion by involving the mediating impact of perceived behavioral integrity of leader and a moderating effect of impression management attributions. The data for the research is gathered from 389 employees of the IT sector of Pakistan by employing a cross-sectional research design. A survey strategy was used in which questionnaires were employed to gather data. The selection of participants was done by convenience sampling. The data analysis was conducted through SPSS and AMOS. The findings of the study provided full support for the mediated moderation model. By examining the impact of leaders’ humility on subordinates’ work passion through employing mediating and moderating mechanisms, this research has added theoretical advances and offered practical implications. The research will help leaders manage their attitudes displayed toward their subordinates and understand the significance attached to these actions. Specifically, this examination concluded that the perceived behavioral integrity of a leader mediates the relationship between leaders’ humility and subordinates’ work passion and that the mediation varies at different levels of impression management attributions.