What about the leader? An examination of the antecedents and consequences of leader empowerment

Research on psychological empowerment has been limited to the within-level examination of the precursors and outcomes of psychological empowerment. Although beneficial, there is a paucity of research that has examined the psychological empowerment of leaders, individuals who are mid-level managers or higher within the organization, and how their sense of being psychologically empowered influences their followers. Leaders drive organizational results by inspiring employees to accomplish a higher goal and mission. Further insights are warranted to understand the mechanisms that create empowerment for leaders and the benefits of leader empowerment for the organization. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation research is to examine the drivers that facilitate leaders being psychologically empowered, the behaviors that leaders engage in once they are empowered, and consequences of their empowerment and behavior on their followers. With a sample of 75 leaders and 188 subordinates from various industries, the results of my study suggest, contrary to expectations, that a curvilinear relationship exists between leader-leader exchange and leader psychological empowerment. Next, I find that leaders who are more politically savvy are more likely to have a higher sense of empowerment than leaders who are less politically savvy. Furthermore, the findings of this study suggest there may be a positive relationship between leader psychological empowerment and follower psychological empowerment, however, further examination of the intervening factors that explain this relationship is warranted. Last, consistent with previous studies, follower psychological empowerment is positively related to follower organizational citizenship behaviors, creative performance, and affective organizational commitment.