Don't give up in adversity: A moderated mediation model of network centrality and performance in leadership identity construction

Leadership identity construction emerges from complex interactions among individual, structural, and contextual factors. What mechanisms underlie the interaction of these multilevel factors in shaping the core claiming-granting process of leadership identity construction? This study investigates how leadership identity claiming, network centrality, individual performance, and team performance interact to influence managerial leadership identity granting. Employing hierarchical linear modeling with matched data from 134 teams (N = 658), we find that leadership identity claiming significantly enhances managerial granting, with network centrality serving as a mediator and performance functioning as a moderator. The strength of these effects varies across performance levels: high individual performance amplifies the benefits of network centrality for gaining recognition, while team performance shows no significant cross-level moderating effect. This study addresses three significant gaps in the literature. First, it introduces a cross-level analytical framework that integrates both individual and team performance effects; Second, it demonstrates that network centrality functions as a dynamic conduit translating individual leadership claims into formal managerial recognition; Third, it advances leadership identity construction theory by highlighting managers as pivotal gatekeepers, extending beyond the peer-level focus of existing models. This investigation provides practical implications for three stakeholder groups: behavioral guidance for individuals seeking recognition, evaluative criteria for managers identifying leadership potential, and organizational strategies for developing comprehensive talent recognition systems.