When humility meets hierarchy: How perceived leader power distance shapes the dual pathways linking leader humility and shared leadership

While prior research has established the relationship between leader humility and shared leadership, the boundary conditions and specific mechanisms remain underexplored. Drawing on signalling theory, the current study examines the moderating role of perceived leader power distance and the mediating roles of team voice and team information sharing in the relationship between leader humility and shared leadership. Using a three‐wave time‐lagged design, we collected data from 82 teams comprising 523 members across nine IT firms in China. The results indicate that the effects of leader humility on shared leadership, via the dual mediating pathways of team voice and information sharing, are significant only when perceived leader power distance is low. We discussed the theoretical and practical implications of our findings for signal consistency, workplace paradox and shared leadership development.