Linking authentic leadership to subordinate behaviors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how authentic leadership influences employees’ workplace behavior through three intermediate mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach The cross-sectional surveys were conducted at a large health organization with over 500 employees. Multi-source data were drawn from 124 employees and 16 supervisors. Findings This study provides empirical evidence that authentic leadership is positively related to subordinates’ proactive behavior and negatively related to subordinates’ workplace deviance behavior through mediation effects of three psychological factors, including supervisor identification, psychological safety, and job engagement. Research limitations/implications Due to the selected survey approach, the data are correlational. The small sample size of the study may reduce the ability to find statistically significant results. The current study would have benefited from organizational data on individual performance and proactive behavior, such as archival annual performance appraisals. Practical implications To practitioners, this study provides evidence that authentic leadership is sufficient in creating a positive work climate within which the employees feel safe to contribute their effort on their jobs. Based on the current findings, the practitioners can be more confident to hire or to promote authentic persons to be leaders in the organization. Originality/value This study is among those few empirical studies which help to validate the authentic leadership theory and provide a clear understanding of the mechanisms by which authentic leadership influences outcomes.