Humility and Charismatic Leadership: A Boost or Bust for Leadership Outcomes in the Russian Context

Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management . 2024. Vol. 25. No. 1. P. 101–116.

Pathak R. D., Titov S., de Vries R., Gupta V., Stern N., Husain Z.

This study unpacks how leader humility and charisma are related to leader effectiveness and satisfaction with the leader and examines the potential moderating effect of need for leadership. We used data from 252 respondents from Russian companies in a 2 (high vs. low leader charisma) x 2 (high vs. low leader humility) vignette design in which levels of charisma and humility were manipulated. Whereas leader humility was found to affect satisfaction with the leader positively, no significant link between leader humility and leader effectiveness was observed. Leader charisma was positively related to leader effectiveness and satisfaction with the leader. The interaction between leader charisma and leader humility in relation to leadership outcomes was found to be positive and significant. Need for leadership did not affect the relations between leader charisma and leader humility on the one hand and outcome variables on the other hand. However, need for leadership did show strong positive relations with both leader effectiveness and satisfaction with the leader. The study's findings suggest that leader humility increases prosocial orientation and cooperation between the leaders and followers leading to higher satisfations with the leaders. Leader charisma may motivate the subordinate more, resulting in greater (perceived) effectiveness of the leader and increasing satisfaction with the leader. Leader charisma and humility can interact, reinforcing higher leadership outcomes. Though results are based on a single cultural context, investigating the interaction between leader charisma and leader humility with leadership outcomes offers implications for theory and practice.

Keywords: leadership, charisma, Russia, humility, perceived leader effectiveness