Unraveling the ‘Double-Edged Sword’ Effect of Temporal Leadership on Followers’ Temporal Outcomes

Accumulating evidence suggests that temporal leadership has vital implications in optimizing time utilization within organizations. Although it has been recognized as an effective strategy for addressing temporal demands and enhancing work outcomes, how temporal leadership impacts employee time management remains underexplored. By integrating the challenge-hindrance appraisal framework and the social construction of leadership theory, we propose a model with a focus on followers’ perspective wherein individuals may interpret temporal leadership either as a benefit or a threat to their personal growth and well-being, contingent upon task predictability. These appraisals, in turn, influence followers’ functional or dysfunctional temporal outcomes. Through two multi-wave filed studies, results consistently reveals that in unpredictable tasks, temporal leadership aligns with followers’ situational expectations, leading them to perceive it as more challenging and, consequently, facilitating time effectiveness. On the contrary, employees dealing with predictable tasks are more likely to evaluate temporal leadership as hindering, subsequently prompting time theft. Our research aims to offer insights into the contingent benefits of temporal leadership and its implications for workplace time management.