Influence of leader humility on subordinates’ knowledge-sharing: exploring the boundary conditions

Purpose Among the human aspects of leaders, humility has gained traction in recent explorations. Subordinates’ psychological safety has been established to mediate between leader humility and subordinates’ knowledge sharing. However, because knowledge sharing is a complicated phenomenon driven by situational demands and individual characteristics, the authors project the presence of boundary conditions in the influence of leader humility on knowledge sharing through psychological safety. The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of leader competence on the relationship between leader humility and psychological safety, as well as the moderating effect of subordinates’ occupational self-efficacy (OSE) on the relationship between psychological safety and subordinates’ knowledge sharing, within the framework of the social information processing (SIP) theory. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a time-lagged, three-wave survey-based questionnaire. Responses from 392 employees working in the Indian IT organizations, collected by using judgmental sampling techniques, were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings Results confirm that leader humility influences subordinates’ knowledge sharing through psychological safety. Findings also prove moderation by leader competence between leader humility and psychological safety and by OSE between psychological safety and subordinates’ knowledge sharing. Originality/value The authors have considered leader humility as a human aspect of a leader and examined the boundary conditions of knowledge sharing through leader humility. Results demonstrate that psychological safety promotes knowledge sharing as a mediator and is strengthened by leader competence and subordinates’ OSE as relatively under-explored moderators. This study illustrates how leader humility and competence jointly influence subordinates’ knowledge sharing via psychological safety. The authors have also positioned OSE as a moderator within the SIP framework and substantiated that knowledge sharing is influenced by subordinates’ cognitive and motivational inclination, besides leader competence.