AFUNNYTHINGHAPPENEDONTHEWAYTOTHEBOTTOMLINE:HUMORASAMODERATOROFLEADERSHIPSTYLEEFFECTSBRUCEJ.AVOLIOStateUniversityofNewYorkAtBinghamtonJANEM.HOWELLUniversityofWesternOntarioJOHNJ.SOSIKPennsylvaniaStateUniversity2003级人管(1)殷融31321013Manistheonlyanimalthatlaughsandweeps;forheistheonlyanimalthatisstruckwiththedifferencebetweenwhatthingsare,andwhattheyoughttobe.WilliamHazlitt,WitandHumorAbstractAstudyexaminedthelinksbetweenleadershipstyle,theuseofhumor,and2measuresofperformance.Resultsindicatedthatleadershipstylewasmoderatedbytheuseofhumorinitsrelationshipwithindividualandunit-levelperformance.•Asenseofhumorisacharacteristicfrequentlyassociatedwithleadershipandwithaleader'sabilitytoeffectchangeinfollowers.•Indeed,manyorganizationsattributehigherlevelsofemployeecommitment,cohesiveness,andperformancetoleaders'useofhumorintheircultures.Towquestions•Towhatextentdoestheuseofhumorbyleadersimpactpositivelyonperformance?•Forwhichleadershipstylesistheuseofhumormore(orless)effective?•LITERATUREREVIEWANDHYPOTHESES•METHODS•RESULTS•DISCUSSIONLITERATUREREVIEWANDHYPOTHESES•Hypothesis1.Theuseofhumorwillbepositivelyrelatedtoindividualandunit-levelperformance.Threetypesofleadershipinthisresearch•Transformationalleadership•contingentrewardleadership•laissez-faireleadership•Transformationalleadersbuildconfidenceinfollowers,encouragingthemtoreframethefutureandtoquestionthetriedandtrue,andcoachingthemtodeveloptheirfullcapabilities.•Humorcanalsobeusedtobringagrouptogetherandthereforedirectitsenergiestowardtheaccomplishmentofgroupgoalsandperformance.•Byusinghumor,transformationalleaderscancreateamoreamiableatmosphereatwork,whichcanenhancecreativeinteractionsamongemployeesandtheirperformance.•Contingentrewardleadersfocusonestablishingclearexchangeswiththeirfollowers.•Contingentrewardleadersusuallyconcentrateongettingtasksdoneandpaylessattentiontounderstandingthehumanresourceneedsoftheirorganizations.•Unliketransformationalleaders,theytendtoexhibitaconvergent(comingtothesinglebestanswer)ratherthanadivergent(comingupwithcreativeandnewobservations)styleofthinking.•Laissez-faireleaders,whoavoidtakingastandwiththeirfollowers,areviewedaslesseffective.Theydonotattendtotheneedsoftheirfollowers,theiruseofhumormaybeviewedasprocrastinatingand/orturningattentionawayfromtheworkthatneedstobeaccomplished.•Indeed,laissez-faireleadersmayusehumorwhenwantingtoavoidtakingondifficultconditionsand/ordecisions.Followersmightseealaissez-faireleader'suseofhumorasaddinginsulttoinjury“.3predictedhypotheses——•Hypothesis2a.Theuseofhumorwillenhancethepositiveeffectoftransformationalleadershiponindividualandunitperformance.•Hypothesis2b.Theuseofhumorwillenhancethepositiveeffectofcontingentrewardleadershiponindividualandunitperformance.•Hypothesis2c.Theuseofhumorwillenhancethenegativeeffectoflaissez-faireleadershiponindividualandunitperformance.METHODS1.ContextandSample•Canadianfinancialinstitution•115leaders(Leaderswereprimarilymen(97%)whohadworkedanaverage20yearswiththecompany.Theywerebetween29and64yearsofage,withtheaverageagebeing47years)•322respectivefollowers2.Procedures•Theoverallresponseratewas89percent•Thefollowerswereaskedtoratethefrequencywithwhichtheirmanageruseddifferentleadershipbehaviorsandhumor.•Individualandunitperformancedataweregatheredoneyearlaterfromcompanyrecords.3.SurveyMeasures(1)Leadershipbehavior•MultifactorLeadershipQuestionnaire(MLQ)Form5X•Thevariablesmeasuredascomponentsofeachtypeofleadership:①Transformationalleadership---idealizedinfluenceorcharisma(usessymbolsandimagestogethis/herideasacross)inspirationalleadership(providesavisionofwhatliesahead)intellectualstimulation(providesreasonstochangemywayofthinkingaboutproblems)Individualizedconsideration(spendstimecoachingme)②Contingentrewardleadership---(pointsoutwhatIwillreceiveifIdowhatneedstobedone)③laissez-faireleadership---(islikelytobeabsentwhenIneedhim/her)•afive-pointscale(2)Useofhumor•Fiveitemstakenfromtheliteratureonhumorandleadershipmeasuredtheleader'suseofhumorintermsoffrequencyofoccurrence.---useshumortotaketheedgeoffduringstressfulperiods,---usesafunnystorytoturnanargumentinhisorherfavor,---makesuslaughatourselveswhenwearetooserious,“---usesamusingstoriestodefuseconflicts,---useswittomakefriendsoftheopposition.(3)PerformanceMeasures•Themeasureofconsolidatedunitperformancerepresentedthedegreetowhichamanagerachievedtargetedgoalsfortheyear,calculatedintermsofthepercentageofgoalsmet.•Theindividualperformanceappraisalmeasurewasascorerepresentingafocalmanager'soverallperformanceasrangingfrom1,marginal,to5,outstanding.appraisedbyhisdirectsupervisor4.DataAnalysis•Weutilizedfull-sampledatatotestHypothesis1.•TotestHypotheses2a,2b,and2c,wesplitthesampleintotwosubsamplescomposedofdatapartitionedintolowerandhigherlevelsofhumoruseRESULTS•Hypothesis1Supporting•theuseofhumorwassignificantlyandpositivelyrelatedtoindividualandunitperformanceleadershipstyleUesofhumorTransfor-mationalleadershipcontingentrewardleadershiplaissez-faireleadershipunitperfor-mancehighMorepositiveperformanceMorenegativepe