Leader Curiosity and Team Intellectual Stimulation

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to introduce the concept of leader curiosity displays. Transformational leadership (Bass, 1985) has received considerable attention as an effective form of team-centric leadership (Kozlowski, Mak, & Chao, 2016). However, recent criticisms of the multi-dimensional conceptualization and the conceptual and operational confounding of leader behavior with expected effects (van Knippenberg & Sitkin, 2013) suggest that our understanding is limited. To address these shortcomings, I focus on intellectual stimulation and introduce the concept of leader curiosity displays. Displaying curiosity is a behavior that is conceptually and operationally separate from the proposed effects and is defined as behaviors exhibited to followers that signal an interest in knowledge acquisition, learning, and thinking. Using data from 371 undergraduate students organized into 67 teams, I tested a model predicting the effects of leader curiosity displays on team performance through curiosity climate, information elaboration, and team conflict. Team leaders were randomly assigned to one of two training conditions – high or low curiosity displays. Changes in leader behavior, along with team climate, team behavior, and performance were measured in a hidden profile task. Overall, the hypothesized model received limited support; however, additional analyses revealed important relationships. For team leaders low in specific curiosity working in teams low in initial levels of information elaboration, the experimental manipulation operated as expected. These effects on leader curiosity displays mediated a positive relationship with curiosity climate and information elaboration, and a decrease in relationship conflict. Increased information elaboration and decreased relationship conflict did not influence team performance, but I did find that leader curiosity displays had a positive influence on team creative performance. Theoretical implications as well as future research directions for leader curiosity displays are discussed.