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Linking leader power use and performance: The mediating role of follower satisfaction and commitment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2019

Peter J. Reiley Open the ORCID record for Peter J. Reiley [Opens in a new window]  and
Rick R. Jacobs
Peter J. Reiley*
Affiliation:
United States Air Force Academy, HQ USAFA/DFBL, 2354 Fairchild Drive, Suite 6L-111, USAF Academy, CO 80840, USA
Rick R. Jacobs
Affiliation:
The Pennsylvania State University, 140 Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: peter.reiley@usafa.edu
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Abstract

This study examined the intermediate role job satisfaction and organizational commitment play between leaders' perceived use of power and followers' performance. Based on a sample of 365 cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy, this study found followers' job satisfaction and commitment mediated the positive relationships between their leaders' use of expert, referent, and reward power and the followers' organizational citizenship behavior. Further, while the use of legitimate or coercive power were both related negatively to followers' in-role job performance, these relationships were not mediated by the followers' job satisfaction or organizational commitment. This study then discusses the practical implications of these findings, highlights its theoretical contributions toward understanding power's direct and indirect relationships with performance in the leadership dynamic, and recommends future research avenues to leverage and build upon these findings.

Keywords

leadershippowerjob satisfactionorganizational commitmentperformanceorganizational citizenship behavior
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , July 2022 , pp. 733 - 753
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2019

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Footnotes

This paper is an original work that has not been published previously and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. All authors have read and approved the paper and have met the criteria for authorship. In line with the scope of this journal, this paper informs management research and practice by examining how followers’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment serve as mediating mechanisms that help explain the relationships between their leaders’ perceived use of power and the followers’ in-role and extra-role performance.

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