Diminishing Returns of Leadership Behaviors on Leadership Emergence

Abstract

A large body of evidence has concluded that there are positive linear relationships between leadership behaviors and leadership emergence. Drawing on insights from the leadership and teams research, we hypothesized that above certain levels of task-oriented and relationship-oriented behaviors, such behaviors will have diminishing returns for leadership emergence. Hypotheses were tested using a sample of 105 leaderless teams within an assessment center setting. Our results indicate that team members’ behaviors have linear and non-linear relations with leadership emergence. We discovered that the association between relationship-oriented behaviors and leadership emergence in self-managed teams is curvilinear, whereas the association between task-oriented behaviors and leadership emergence is linear but not curvilinear. Overall, the relationships between member behaviors and leadership emergence are more complex than the independent, positive linear relationships observed throughout the literature.

Formal supervisors' role in stimulating team members' informal leader emergence: Supervisor and member status as critical moderators

“…The linkage between initiating structure (and similar types of task‐oriented behavior) and informal leader emergence has received widespread support in previous empirical research (e.g., Gerpott et al, 2019; Mitchell et al, 2019; Walter et al, 2012). A key reason underlying this relationship is that work teams are often focused on instrumental task accomplishment, and teammates are therefore likely to ascribe leadership qualities to members that provide valued contributions toward this goal (Gerpott et al, 2019; Van Vugt, 2006).…”

“…Consideration includes behaviors such as looking out for others' welfare, showing concern, appreciation, and support, as well as being friendly and approachable (Bass & Bass, 2008; DeRue et al, 2011). Although initially developed in the context of formal leadership, research has repeatedly shown that members without official leadership authority can also demonstrate both initiating structure and consideration (and related types of task‐oriented and relations‐oriented behavior; e.g., Ellis, 1988; Mitchell et al, 2019; Walter et al, 2012). It seems likely, however, that formal supervisors versus nonsupervisory members may differentially enact these behaviors.…”

“…Initiating structure and consideration are often perceived as favorable, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, these behaviors (and similar behavior types) have generally been associated with beneficial outcomes among both supervisors and team members (e.g., DeRue et al, 2011; Mitchell et al, 2019). Nevertheless, there are likely to be pronounced differences in the degree to which different supervisors as well as nonsupervisory members exhibit such behavior.…”

“…Further, yet other studies have illustrated positive associations between members' consideration (and similar behaviors) and informal leader emergence, but they have found these linkages to be less clear‐cut than for task‐oriented (e.g., initiating structure) behaviors. Ellis (1988), for example, found consideration to be only moderately correlated with general leadership impressions, and Mitchell et al (2019) found the positive linkage between relationship‐oriented (but not task‐oriented) behavior and leadership emergence to be qualified by a curvilinear pattern of diminishing returns. Moreover, Gerpott et al's (2019, p. 13) longitudinal study showed that whereas task‐oriented behavior was “a stable positive predictor,” relations‐oriented behavior was only related with individuals' leadership emergence toward the end of a team's life cycle.…”

“…Accordingly, research on informal leadership has used various alternative labels for closely related (although not necessarily identical) behavior types. Labels for behaviors akin to initiating structure and consideration, respectively, include task‐focused, task‐oriented, and task coordination behavior, on the one hand, and socioemotional or relations‐oriented behavior as well as relations leadership, on the other (e.g., Bales, 1950; Gerpott et al, 2019; Kellett et al, 2006; Mitchell et al, 2019; Walter et al, 2012).…”