“Do you feel like becoming a leader?” Emotions and the likelihood of self-nomination for leadership

Blending conceptual framing from the CEO-TMT interface literature with upper echelons decision-making theory, we develop a model of the role of CEO narcissism and narcissism in the upper echelons. We argue that narcissistic CEOs tend to have higher narcissism in their Top Management Teams (N-TMTs). In turn, TMTs characterized by narcissism can benefit from positive aspects of narcissism while avoiding its pitfalls; especially when strategic decision speed is slower and behavioral integration is higher. In a field study of 104 TMTs from publicly-listed South Korean firms, we find an association between narcissistic CEOs and N-TMT, and that N-TMT mediates in the indirect, conditional relationship between CEO narcissism and sales growth. We also invoke threshold theory in anticipation that outcomes associated with N-TMT may be nonlinear. In support of our threshold hypothesis, we find a curvilinear relationship between N-TMT and sales growth; and this curvilinear relationship is stronger for a small number of TMTs scoring high on N-TMT (> +2SD), where TMTs’ activities are defined by deliberative integration. The pattern of results we report provides evidence for the importance of accounting for narcissism in the upper echelons as a predictor of sales growth, and key contextual moderators of this relationship.