Leader Behavior and Follower Work Behavior: The Influence of Follower Characteristics

Research on leadership and subsequent follower outcomes has remained a prominent topic of study in the organizational sciences. Unfortunately, the leadership literature has neglected the role of follower characteristics as potential influences on the relationship between leader behavior and follower work behavior. In this session, we will review the literature on follower individual differences as they relate to leader effectiveness. We will also report the results of 2 studies that we conducted to further examine this issue. In the first study, we found that follower promotion focus mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and follower organizational citizenship behavior. In the second study, we found support for a moderated mediation model in which transformational leadership moderated the relationship between work ethic and work engagement, which subsequently predicted follower proactive behavior at work. We will conclude the session by discussing the implications of this area of research on the study and practice of leadership