The Impact of Spiritual Leadership on Employee Resilience: A Self‐Concept Theory Perspective

ABSTRACT Employee resilience is critical for an organization to respond to uncertain environments. This study aims to examine the relationship between spiritual leadership and employee resilience. Based on self‐concept theory, this study explored the mediating roles of employees' perceived insider status (PIS) and organization‐based self‐esteem (OBSE) as well as the moderating role of commitment‐based human resource management practices (CHRMP). The three‐wave time‐lagged data from 398 leader‐employee matching questionnaires were collected in China. The cross‐level regression analyses showed that the positive effect of spiritual leadership on employee resilience was significant after controlling for possible confounding effect of supportive leadership. Both PIS and OBSE partially mediated the relationship between spiritual leadership and employee resilience. CHRMP had a significant positive moderation effect on the impact of spiritual leadership on PIS and OBSE. Moreover, CHRMP moderated the indirect effects of spiritual leadership on employee resilience via PIS and OBSE. This paper reveals the cross‐level influence of spiritual leadership on employee resilience from employees' self‐concept perspective. It provides managerial insights for managers to enhance employee resilience by practicing spiritual leadership, strengthening employees' self‐concept, and implementing CHRMP.