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Shaping the shared mental model: How leader humility helps teams to learn

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2017

Mingze Li ,
Pengcheng Zhang ,
Ying Xia  and
Wenxing Liu
Mingze Li
Affiliation:
School of Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Pengcheng Zhang
Affiliation:
School of Management, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Ying Xia
Affiliation:
School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
Wenxing Liu*
Affiliation:
School of Business Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, Hubei, China
*
Corresponding author: Wenxing Liu, kekexili24@163.com
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Abstract

Although an increasing amount of the leadership literature argues that leader humility is beneficial to team learning, few studies have examined this effect directly and, as such, little is known about why leader humility has such important effects or when these effects can be amplified or attenuated. Utilizing a survey of 305 employees on 89 teams, we found a positive relationship existing between leader humility and team learning. The results also indicated that a shared mental model was an important mechanism revealing why leader humility could stimulate team members to learn. In addition, we found that the learning effect stimulated by leader humility was much stronger on teams having a high collective promotion focus instead of a high collective prevention focus. Theoretical implications and managerial practices were also discussed.

Keywords

leader humilityshared mental modelteam learning
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 25 , Issue 5 , September 2019 , pp. 653 - 671
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2017 

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