When leaders ask questions: Can humility premiums buffer the effects of competence penalties?

Business Communication Lessons in Agility: Introduction to the Special Issue on the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Business communication is also vital to adapting organizational cultures and their people especially since it co-creates reality and perceptions (Fairhurst & Uhl-Bien, 2012; Keyton, 2017; Sias, 2013) at all organizational levels: strategic, leadership, teams, and individuals. Similarly, effective business communication in VUCA leverages respect and humility (Cojuharenco & Karelaia, 2020; Van Quaquebeke & Felps, 2018) reflecting servant leadership (Gutierrez-Wirsching, 2019; Liden et al., 2014) as well as transparency (sharing all information that is needed for well-being). Transparency and clarity are indispensable to VUCA because ambiguity is a challenge, and gaining internal and external stakeholder trust via verbal and nonverbal empathy is critical to positive outcomes (Coombs, 2014; Dulek et al., 2003).…”

Perceived competence overrides gender bias: gender roles, affective trust and leader effectiveness

“…Female leaders may utilize communication strategies to ensure perceived competence since the contents and forms of communication could influence competence perceptions. For example, female leaders can devote more attention to task-oriented behaviors rather than interpersonal concerns to elicit competence perceptions (Cojuharenco and Karelaia, 2020). They can also use eye contact, open body postures, low-pitched voice and increased frequency of talking because these behaviors help to deliver a competence image without incurring negative reactions (Cashdan, 1998; Williams and Tiedens, 2016).…”

Undermining Your Case to Enhance Your Impact: A Framework for Understanding the Effects of Acts of Receptiveness in Persuasion

“…This prediction is consistent with literature spanning multiple domains, which suggests that asking questions can have numerous interpersonal benefits. For example, asking questions boosts the likelihood of receiving help (due to perceived humility; Cojuharenco & Karelaia, 2020), a second date (due to enhanced likability; Huang et al, 2017), and a good negotiation outcome (due to enhanced trust and likability; Bitterly & Schweitzer, 2020). In addition, asking questions—for instance, about intentions—has been shown to have a potent effect on recipients’ judgments and behaviors (e.g., Morwitz & Fitzsimons, 2004).…”

“…Regarding involvement, both Petty et al (1981) and Blankenship and Craig (2007) found that argument quality moderated the effects of questions on persuasion, consistent with an involvement account. Regarding enhanced source perceptions, question askers have been shown to be perceived as more humble (Cojuharenco & Karelaia, 2020), likable (Huang et al, 2017), and trustworthy (Bitterly & Schweitzer, 2020). These latter studies did not assess traditional persuasion outcomes, but if getting more help (Cojuharenco & Karelaia, 2020), second dates (Huang et al, 2017), and better negotiation outcomes (Bitterly & Schweitzer, 2020) can be viewed as persuasion-adjacent, the findings suggest that questions might promote persuasion through enhanced source perceptions.…”