Leaders mentoring others: the effects of implicit followership theory on leader integrity and mentoring

How are leaders influenced by their assumptions about human nature? From a social cognitive perspective, this study examines the effects of a leader’s implicit followership theory (IFT) on the leader’s integrity, engagement, and effectiveness as a mentor. Multisource data collected from a diverse sample of CEOs and senior executives of large organizations (N = 331) and their direct reports (N = 1,517) suggest that leaders who hold optimistic IFTs are more likely to be relationally engaged with their direct reports and are more likely to be rated higher on integrity and mentoring effectiveness. Together, these results advance an ethical stewardship and relational mentoring perspective on human resource management.