Trunks and Branches: Embracing Department Leader Humor and Enhancing Team Outcomes

While multiple levels of leaders have recognized the effective functions of leader humor, less is known about how department leaders exert their influence. To address this gap, we propose a relational framework that examines when and why department leader humor promotes team outcomes. Using time-lagged data from 101 department leader-team leader dyads collected in China, we provide support for the hypothesized effects of department leader humor on team outcomes, as well as the moderating effects of apparent sincerity and power distance. Contributions to the literature on leader humor and team outcomes are discussed.