Enhancing team effectiveness through responsible leadership: A dual harmony perspective

Moving beyond leader–subordinate dyads, we investigate the multifaceted impacts of responsible leadership on both internal and external team effectiveness. Integrating cognitive appraisal theory with the dualistic model of harmony, we propose a double‐edged sword model that elucidates the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions of responsible leadership effects on team creativity and organizational citizenship behaviour toward stakeholders (OCBS). Three studies were conducted to progressively test our theoretical model. Study 1 used two independent samples to develop measures for dual team harmony—team genuine and superficial harmony toward stakeholders. In Studies 2 and 3, using the multilevel, multisource, time‐lagged, and cross‐cultural survey design, we found that responsible leadership activates both types of interpersonal harmony, which further mediate the relationships between responsible leadership and both team creativity and OCBS. Mastery climate amplifies the relationship between responsible leadership and genuine harmony, as well as the positive mediating effects of genuine harmony. Conversely, mastery climate mitigates the relationship between responsible leadership and superficial harmony, along with the negative mediating effects of superficial harmony. Performance climate exhibits the opposite patterns. These findings advance our understanding of the double‐edged sword effects of responsible leadership and extend the research framework regarding its internal and external effectiveness.