In recent years, top-down leadership style such as humility has received widespread attention in academic and practical areas. Although theoretical and empirical studies have shown that the humble leadership has a positive impact, it lacks systematic review of its mechanism and the research about boundary conditions of its positive impact. The article begins with a brief overview of the research status of humble leaders, and then combs the study of the boundary conditions of the humble leadership when it comes to individual and group levels. Finally, the future research is proposed.
Boje, D.M., Rosile, G.A., Durant, R.A. and Luhman, J.T. (2004) Enron Spectacles: A Critical Dramaturgical Analysis. Organization Studies, 25, 751-774. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840604042413
Knottnerus, J.D., Ulsperger, J.S., Cummins, S. and Osteen, E. (2006) Exposing Enron, Media Representations of Ritualized Deviance in Corporate Culture. Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal, 2, 177-195. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741659006065405
Owens, B.P. and Hekman, D.R. (2012) Modeling How to Grow: An Inductive Examination of Humble Leader Behaviors, Contingencies, and Outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 55, 787-818. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.0441
Tangney, J.P. (2000) Humility: Theoretical Perspectives, Empirical Findings, and Directions for Future Research. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 70-82. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2000.19.1.70
Owens, B.P., Johnson, M.J. and Mitchell, T.R. (2013) Expressed Humility in Organizations: Implications for Performance, Teams, and Leadership. Organization Science, 24, 1517-1538. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1120.0795
Brickson, S. (2000) The Impact of Identity Orientation on Individual and Organizational Outcomes in Demographically Diverse Settings. Academy of Management Review, 25, 82-101. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2000.2791604
Chancellor, J. and Lyubomirsky, S. (2013) Humble Beginnings: Current Trends, State Perspectives, and Hallmarks of Humility. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7, 819-833. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12069
Collins, J. (2001) Level 5 Leadership. The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve. Harvard Business Review, 79, 66.
Doty, J. and Gerdes, D. (2000) Humility as a Leadership Attribute. Military Review, 80, 89-90.
Exline, J.J. and Geyer, A. (2004) Perceptions of Humility: A Preliminary Study. Self and Identity, 3, 95-115. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576500342000077
Farh, J.L., Hackett, R.D. and Liang, J. (2007) Individual-Level Cultural Values as Moderators of Perceived Organizational Support—Employee Outcome Relationships in China: Comparing the Effects of Power Distance and Traditionality. Academy of Management Journal, 50, 715-729. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.25530866
Greenleaf, R.K., Spears, L.C., Covey, S.R. and Senge, P.M. (2002) Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness. Paulist Press, New York.
Hughes, L.W. (2010) Leadership under Pressure: Tactics from the Front Line. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 31, 187-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437731011024439
Knight, P.A. and Nadel, J.I. (1986) Humility Revisited: Self-Esteem, Information Search, and Policy Consistency. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 38, 196-206. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(86)90016-6
Means, J.R. and Wilson, G.L. (1990) Humility as a Psychotherapeutic Formulation. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 3, 211-215. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515079008254249
Morris, J.A., Brotheridge, C.M. and Urbanski, J.C. (2005) Bringing Humility to Leadership: Antecedents and Consequences of Leader Humility. Human Relations, 58, 1323-1350. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726705059929
Nielsen, R., Marrone, J.A. and Slay, H.S. (2010) A New Look at Humility: Exploring the Humility Concept and Its Role in Socialized Charismatic Leadership. Leadership & Organizational Studies, 17, 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051809350892
Chiu, C.C., Owens, B.P. and Tesluk, P.E. (2016) Initiating and Utilizing Shared Leadership in Teams: The Role of Leader Humility, Team Proactive Personality, and team Performance Capability. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101, 1705.
Oc, B., Bashshur, M.R., Daniels, M.A., Greguras, G.J. and Diefendorff, J.M. (2015) Leader Humility in Singapore. The Leadership Quarterly, 26, 68-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.11.005
Ouimet, G. (2010) Dynamics of Narcissistic Leadership in Organizations: Towards an Integrated Research Model. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25, 713-726. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683941011075265
Ou, A.Y., Tsui, A.S., Kinicki, A.J., Waldman, D.A., Xiao, Z. and Song, L.J. (2014) Humble Chief Executive Officers’ Connections to Top Management Team Integration and Middle Managers’ Responses. Administrative Science Quarterly, 59, 34-72. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839213520131
Owens, B.P. and Hekman, D.R. (2016) How Does Leader Humility Influence Team Performance? Exploring the Mechanisms of Contagion and Collective Promotion Focus. Academy of Management Journal, 59, 1088-1111. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.0660
Owens, B.P. and Wallace, A.S. (2015) Leader Narcissism and Follower Outcomes: Thecounterbalancing Effect of Leader Humility. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100, 1203-1213. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038698
Padilla, A., Hogan, R. and Kaiser, R.B. (2007) The Toxic Triangle: Destructive Leaders, Susceptible Followers, and Conducive Environments. Leadership Quarterly, 18, 176-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.03.001
Paley, J. (2007) Kant and the Ethics of Humility: A Story of Dependence, Corruption and Virtue. Philosophy & Phenomenological Research, 8, 139-141. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-769X.2007.00263.x
Vera, D. and Rodriguez-Lopez, A. (2004) Strategic Virtues: Humility as a Source of Competitive Advantage. Organizational Dynamics, 33, 393-408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2004.09.006
Wang, et al. (2017) Understanding How Leader Humility Enhances Employee Creativity—The Role of Perspective Taking and Cognitive.
Resick, C.J., Whitman, D.S., Weingarden, S.M. and Hiller, N.J. (2009) The Bright-Side and the Dark-Side of CEO Personality: Examining Core Self-Evaluations, Narcissism, Transformational Leadership, and Strategic Influence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1365-1381. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016238
Podsakoff, N.P., Podsakoff, P.M., Mackenzie, S.B., Maynes, T.D. and Spoelma, T.M. (2014) Consequences of Unit-Level Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Review and Recommendations for Future Research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35, 87-119. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1911
Spiegel, J.S. (2003) The Moral Irony of Humility. Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, 6, 131-150. https://doi.org/10.1353/log.2003.0015
Rowatt, W.C., Powers, C., Targhetta, V., Comer, J., Kennedy, S. and Labouff, J. (2006) Development and Initial Validation of an Implicit Measure of Humility Relative to Arrogance. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 198-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760600885671
Sandage, S.J. and Wiess, T.W. (2001) Contextualizing Models of Humility and Forgiveness: A Reply to Gassin. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 29, 201-211. https://doi.org/10.1177/009164710102900302