📋 Introduction

• Paper Title: Reversing the Extraverted Leadership Advantage: The Role of Employee Proactivity
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Journal: Academy of Management Journal
• Authors: Adam M. Grant (University of Pennsylvania), Francesca Gino (Harvard Business School), David A. Hofmann (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Why this matters

If you're aware of your team's pro-activity level and your own level of extraversion, you can boost the effectiveness of your team by switching your leadership approach.

What they found

This research examined how the relationship between extraverted leadership and group performance is moderated by employee proactivity. The key findings were:

• When employees were passive, extraverted leadership was associated with higher group performance. However, when employees were proactive, this relationship reversed.
• These effects were found in both a field study of pizza delivery stores and a lab experiment. In the lab study, the authors also found the effects were mediated by employee perceptions of leader receptivity.
• Differences in group performance were driven by follower performance rather than leader performance. When employees were proactive, they achieved higher performance when leaders acted less extraverted.

Why this happens

Extraverted leaders are less receptive to proactivity because they see it as a challenge to their authority and prefer to be the center of attention. This leads them to dismiss proactive ideas.

In contrast, leaders low in extraversion are more receptive to proactive ideas and behaviors from employees. They listen more carefully and employees feel their contributions are valued, increasing their motivation.

The differences in leader receptivity and resulting employee motivation explain the interactive effects of leader extraversion and employee proactivity on group performance. Introverted leaders enable proactive employees to shine.