Leading With Callings: Effects of Leader’s Calling on Followers’ Team Commitment, Voice Behavior, and Job Performance

Abstract

Viewing work as a calling has been considered to be beneficial to individuals and organizations. However, research to date has largely focused on the effects of individuals’ own callings on themselves, leaving the effects of one’s calling on others unexplored. Based on research that demonstrates prevalent effects of callings and leader’s influences on followers at work, we assumed that leader calling might have positive effects on followers’ outcomes. Specifically, we hypothesized that the extent to which leaders view their work as a calling have positive influences on followers’ team commitment, leader-rated voice behavior, and job performance. We also examined a mediating effect of transformational leadership on the relations between leader’s calling and the three follower’s outcomes. Using data on 284 leader-follower pairs from the South Korean Air Force, we found that leader’s calling was positively associated with followers’ team commitment, voice behaviors, and job performance. The effects of leader’s calling on follower commitment and voice behavior were partly accounted for by follower perceptions of transformational leadership. However, a mediating role of transformational leadership on the link between leader’s calling and job performance was not supported. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Do Unnecessary Tasks Impair Performance Because They Harm Living a Calling? Testing a Mediation in a Three-Wave Study

“…Calling, and particularly living a calling, has many positive consequences for employees and organizations (see Brown & Lent, 2016;Duffy et al, 2012Duffy et al, , 2014Duffy, Allan, et al, 2018;Duffy, Dik, et al, 2018;Duffy & Dik, 2013;Hirschi, 2012;Lysova, Allan, et al, 2019a;Lysova, Dik, et al, 2019b;Park et al, 2016Park et al, , 2018, a finding which we also established here regarding socio-contextual performance at work. Promoting living a calling would therefore have subsequent positive effects on employees and organizations.…”

Having a Calling on Board: Effects of Calling on Job Satisfaction and Job Performance Among South Korean Newcomers

“…To better understand the role of calling across cultures and occupations, researchers have highlighted a need for more diverse research in the calling literature (Duffy and Dik, 2013). An increasing body of research has been conducted with working adults in East Asian countries such as China (Zhang et al, 2015) and South Korea (Park et al, 2016, 2018), but more efforts to investigate calling in diverse contexts are needed to understand how calling functions across cultures (Hunter et al, 2010; Duffy and Dik, 2013). Also, many studies on calling have focused on college students and those who are currently working, and what role calling plays during career transition period has received little attention.…”

What Drives the Trickle-Down Effect of Calling Orientation From Supervisors to Subordinates? The Perspective of Social Learning Theory

“…According to social learning theory there are at least two reasons why supervisors’ calling orientation should be positively associated with their subordinates’ calling orientation. First, supervisors having a calling often have a clear sense of purpose and personal mission (Elangovan et al, 2010; Park et al, 2018) that drives them to engage in sense-making activities and express their views on work issues when they interact with team members. Supervisors’ visibility and influence means that their subordinates’ perceptions of the meaning of their work will be susceptible to supervisors’ sense-making activities (Bartunek et al, 1999; Maitlis, 2005; Zhang and Bartol, 2010).…”