How and when humble leadership influences employee adaptive performance? The roles of self-determination and employee attributions

Purpose The present study aimed to examine the relationship between humble leadership (HL) and employee adaptive performance by testing the mediating role of self-determination and the moderating role of employee attributions of HL. Design/methodology/approach A three-wave, two-source design was used to collect quantitative data from 301 employees and 45 direct supervisors of mainland Chinese enterprises. Testing the hypotheses was conducted through multiple regression analysis and moderated regression analysis. Findings Results showed that HL was positively related to employee adaptive performance. Additionally, the relationship between HL and employee adaptive performance was mediated by self-determination. Furthermore, this positive effect of HL on self-determination was minimized among employees who attribute HL to impression management motives but is insignificant for employees who attribute HL to performance improvement motives. Originality/value It has been widely concerned that the traditional “top-down” leadership styles are associated with employee adaptive performance; however, the role of bottom-up leadership styles on employee adaptive performance has only been sporadically examined. The present study introduced HL, a typical bottom-up leadership style and developed a moderated mediation model to investigate the potential effect of HL on employee adaptive performance. Moreover, by confirming the mediating role of self-determination, the authors further uncover how HL facilitates employees' adaptive performance. Meanwhile, the moderating role of employee attributions of HL found in this study offers new insights into the understanding of the effectiveness of HL.