Authentic leadership and employee voice: a self-verification perspective

Purpose This study aimed to examine the effects of leaders’ authentic leadership on employee voice from a self-verification perspective. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected using a time-lagged survey research design. The participants were 379 leader–employee dyads from 106 teams in China. Findings The results indicate that leaders exhibiting authentic leadership trigger employees’ self-verification, which promotes their voice. In addition, these relationships are strengthened when employees’ self-verification striving is higher. Practical implications Creating a workplace that encourages employees to be their true selves, such as one where leaders show authentic leadership, can lead to more employee voice, especially for those with high self-verification needs. Originality/value This study is one of the first to explore how authentic leadership influences employees voice from a self-verification perspective.