Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Ph.D. Student, Department of Management, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economy, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
2 Professor, Department of Management, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economy, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
3 Associate Professor., Department of Management, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economy, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
Abstract
the current research was carried out with the aim of designing a humble leadership pattern. this study is a developmental-applied, qualitative research and was conducted with the grounded theory method. The field of research consists of managers and experts of the High Institute of Security and Administrative Development of Iraq, among which 30 people were selected to participate by using the purposeful sampling method. The required data was collected through semi-structured interviews, and the rule of theoretical data saturation. The results show that two categories of factors (individual factors and organizational factors) play a role as the causal conditions of humble leadership style in the organization. The results also indicate that the humble leadership style appears in the form of four main components, i.e. intellectual (cognitive), motivational, emotional and behavioral in the organization. And contextual conditions (tendency to create a special atmosphere, level of maturity of employees and not giving value to flatterers) and intervening conditions (managers' self-esteem, low uncertainty and positive organizational culture) also lead to the emergence of this leadership style in the organization. The strategies (infrastructural and management) and consequences (individual and organizational) of this leadership style have also been identified.
Keywords
Main Subjects
- Abdelaliem, S. M. F., Asal, M. G. R., Abou Zeid, M. A. G., Hendy, A., & El‐Sayed, A. A. I. (2025). Humble leadership and nurses' turnover intention: The moderating effect of leader expertise. International Nursing Review, 72(2), e13025.
- Al Hawamdeh, N. (2023). Does humble leadership mitigate employees’ knowledge-hiding behaviour? The mediating role of employees’ self-efficacy and trust in their leader. Journal of Knowledge Management, 27(6), 1702-1719.
- Aldiabat, K. M., & Le Navenec, C. L. (2018). Data saturation: The mysterious step in grounded theory methodology. The qualitative report, 23(1), 245-261.
- Bharanitharan, K., Chen, Z. X., Bahmannia, S., & Lowe, K. B. (2019). Is leader humility a friend or foe, or both? An attachment theory lens on leader humility and its contradictory outcomes. Journal of Business Ethics, 160, 729-743.
- Chan, E. T., Hekman, D. R., & Foo, M. D. (2024). An examination of whether and how leader humility enhances leader personal career success. Human Resource Management, 63(3), 427-442.
- Chandler, J. A., Johnson, N. E., Jordan, S. L., & Short, J. C. (2023). A meta-analysis of humble leadership: reviewing individual, team, and organizational outcomes of leader humility. The Leadership Quarterly, 34(1), 101660.
- Charmaz, K., & Thornberg, R. (2021). The pursuit of quality in grounded theory. Qualitative research in psychology, 18(3), 305-327.
- Chen, H., Jiang, J., Wang, L., Zhang, Z., & Bao, J. (2024). Why is a modest gentleman cruel and ruthless? A study on the dark side effect of humble leadership–from the perspective of low-status compensation theory. International Journal of Conflict Management, 35(3), 508-525.
- Chiu, C. Y., Balkundi, P., Owens, B. P., & Tesluk, P. E. (2022). Shaping positive and negative ties to improve team effectiveness: The roles of leader humility and team helping norms. Human relations, 75(3), 502-531.
- Cho, J., Schilpzand, P., Huang, L., & Paterson, T. (2021). How and when humble leadership facilitates employee job performance: the roles of feeling trusted and job autonomy. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 28(2), 169-184.
- Chughtai, A. A., & Arifeen, S. R. (2023). Humble leadership and career success: a moderated mediation analysis. Management Decision, 61(6), 1485-1500.
- Connor, J., Flenady, T., Massey, D., & Dwyer, T. (2024). Classic grounded theory: identifying the main concern. Research in Nursing & Health, 47(3), 277-288.
- El‐Gazar, H. E., Zoromba, M. A., Zakaria, A. M., Abualruz, H., & Abousoliman, A. D. (2022). Effect of humble leadership on proactive work behaviour: The mediating role of psychological empowerment among nurses. Journal of Nursing Management, 30(7), 2689-2698.
- Elhadidy, I. A., & Gao, Y. (2025). How does humble leadership stimulate employees’ service improvisation in hospitality? A social information processing perspective. Kybernetes, 54(8), 4483-4514.
- Hu, J., Erdogan, B., Jiang, K., Bauer, T. N., & Liu, S. (2018). Leader humility and team creativity: The role of team information sharing, psychological safety, and power distance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(3), 313.
- Huang, Y., Zhang, Y., Cui, M., & Peng, X. (2024). Humble leadership and work–family enrichment: promotion focused and thriving. Management Decision, 62(5), 1473-1493.
- Kelemen, T. K., Matthews, S. H., Matthews, M. J., & Henry, S. E. (2023). Humble leadership: A review and synthesis of leader expressed humility. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 44(2), 202-224.
- Kirkland, J. C. R., Edwards, B. D., & Flaherty, K. E. (2021). The effect of honest and humble leadership on salesperson customer orientation. Journal of Business Research, 130, 49-58.
- Lin, X., Chen, Z. X., Tse, H. H., Wei, W., & Ma, C. (2019). Why and when employees like to speak up more under humble leaders? The roles of personal sense of power and power distance. Journal of Business Ethics, 158, 937-950.
- Mao, J., Chiu, C. Y., Owens, B. P., Brown, J. A., & Liao, J. (2019). Growing followers: Exploring the effects of leader humility on follower self‐expansion, self‐efficacy, and performance. Journal of Management Studies, 56(2), 343-371.
- Mian, N., Malik, M. I., & Hussain, S. (2024). Humble leadership and project success: underpinning service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior and task complexity. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, ahead-of-print.
- Ou, A. Y., Seo, J., Choi, D., & Hom, P. W. (2017). When can humble top executives retain middle managers? The moderating role of top management team faultlines. Academy of Management Journal, 60(5), 1915-1931.
- Ou, A. Y., Waldman, D. A., & Peterson, S. J. (2018). Do humble CEOs matter? An examination of CEO humility and firm outcomes. Journal of management, 44(3), 1147-1173.
- Owens, B. P., & Hekman, D. R. (2012). Modeling how to grow: An inductive examination of humble leader behaviors, contingencies, and outcomes. Academy of Management journal, 55(4), 787-818.
- Owens, B. P., & Hekman, D. R. (2016). How does leader humility influence team performance? Exploring the mechanisms of contagion and collective promotion focus. Academy of Management journal, 59(3), 1088-1111.
- Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015). Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation research. Administration and policy in mental health and mental health services research, 42, 533-544.
- Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods, (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
- Rego, A., Vitória, A., e Cunha, M. P., Owens, B. P., Ventura, A., Leal, S., ... & Lourenço-Gil, R. (2022). Employees’ improvisational behavior: Exploring the role of leader grit and humility. Human Performance, 35(2), 113-138.
- Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1997). Grounded theory in practice. Sage.
- Thomas, B. (2022). The Role of Purposive Sampling Technique as a Tool for Informal Choices in a Social Sciences in Research Methods. Just Argiculture, 2 (5), 1–8.
- Waseem, Muhammad, Shahid Iqbal, and Khalid Khan. "Effect of humble leadership on project success: the mediating role of team engagement and the moderating role of organizational culture." Journal of Facilities Management 23, no. 1 (2025): 98-121.
- Wu, Z., & Shen, R. (2024). The negative effect of supervisor bottom-line mentality on employee creativity: The mediation of harmonious passion and moderating effect of humble leadership. Current Psychology, 43(21), 19198-19212.
- Zhang, J., Javaid, M., Liao, S., Choi, M., & Kim, H. E. (2024). How and when humble leadership influences employee adaptive performance? The roles of self-determination and employee attributions. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 45(3), 377-396.
- Zhou, F., & Wu, Y. J. (2018). How humble leadership fosters employee innovation behavior: A two-way perspective on the leader-employee interaction. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 39(3), 375-387.
- Hajian, M., Shirazi Tehrani, S., & Salehzadeh, R. (2022). Investigating the effect of humble leadership on the Organizational Performance in Iran Insurance Company. Leadership in productivity management and development, 1 (1), 31-45. [in Persian]
- Hajian, T., Karimi, M., & Ghahramanifard, A. (2001). Modesty and humility of managers from the perspective of Islam. Quarterly Journal of Islamic Studies in Education, 4, 36-57. [in Persian]
- Hakkak, M., & Azimi, H. (2023). The effect of humble leadership on expedient immoral behaviors in the organization with role of compassion at work. Journal of Strategic Management Studies, 14(53), 167-184. [in Persian]
- Karimi Khoyagani, R. (2022). Spiritual and Humble Leadership in the Educational School of Martyr Soleimani. Papers of the Second International Conference on the Second Step of the Revolution: The School of Martyr Soleimani, Tehran: Imam Hussein University. [in Persian]
- mohammadian, B., zarei matin, H., babashahi, J., & yazdani, H. (2017). Understanding the Formation Process of Humility-Based Leadership in Business Using Meta Synthesis Approach. Transformation Management Journal, 9(18), 24-46. [in Persian]
- Motia, M., & Aaghadoosti, E. (2021). A Review on the Gradual Course of the Doctrine of Humility in Qur'an Based on the Order of Revelation. Biannual Journal of research in the interpretation of Quran, 8(15), 245-217[in Persian]