Lorsqu’il est question de diriger des individus, le fait d’adopter une certaine forme d’humilité pourrait ne pas être sans conséquence.
C’est bien connu : un chef c’est fait pour « cheffer » ! Un chef sait tout mieux que toutes les personnes hiérarchiquement au-dessous de lui. Un chef prend les bonnes décisions, ceci sans avoir à s’enrichir de concertations préalables. Un chef est simplement la bonne personne au bon endroit, nul besoin de remise en question d’aucune sorte. Loin de cette vision caricaturale et quelque peu toxique du dirigeant suprême – mais qui peut néanmoins malheureusement réellement encore exister – est-ce que l’humilité dans la pratique d’une forme de direction peut se révéler particulièrement intéressante ?
Chronique diffusée le 1 mai 2025. L’ensemble des chroniques est accessible sur une playlist dédiée.
Pour aller plus loin :
« Humble leaders boost employees’ workplace status and leadership potential », par l’équipe de communication de l’université l’université d’Australie-méridionale. Publié sur le site de l’université l’université d’Australie-méridionale, le 27/05/2024. Consulté le 01/04/2025. Lien : https://www.unisa.edu.au/media-centre/Releases/2024/humble-leaders-boost-employees-workplace-status-and-leadership-potential/.
Un autre épisode du podcast en lien :
« La Tête Dans Le Cerveau #266 – Le déprimant trajet professionnel ».
Sources :
Badura K.L. et al. (2020). Motivation to lead : a meta-analysis and distal-proximal model of motivation and leadership. Journal of applied psychology, 105 (4) : 331-354.
Chandler J.A. et al. (2023). A meta-analysis of humble leadership : reviewing individual, team, and organizational outcomes of leader humility. The leadership quarterly, 34 (1) : 1-63.
Chen H. et al. (2021). Why and when do employees become more proactive under humble leaders ? The roles of psychological need satisfaction and Chinese traditionality. Journal of organizational change management, 34 (5) : 1076-1095.
Chen Y. et al. (2018). Can leader “humility” spark employee “proactivity” ? The mediating role of psychological empowerment. Leadership and organization development journal, 39 (3) : 326-339.
Chiu C.Y.C. et al. (2016). Initiating and utilizing shared leadership in teams : the role of leader humility, team proactive personality, and team performance capability. Journal of applied psychology, 101 (12) : 1705-1720.
Day D.V. (2000). Leadership development: a review in context. The leadership quarterly, 11 (4) : 581-613.
Djurdjevic E. et al. (2017). Workplace status : the development and validation of a scale. Journal of applied psychology, 102 (7) : 1124-1147.
Fişek M.H. et al. (2005). Status cues and the formation of expectations. Social science research, 34 (1) : 80-102.
Ho G.C. et al. (2012). Labels and leaders : the influence of framing on leadership emergence. The leadership quarterly, 23 (5) : 943-952.
Kelemen T.K. et al. (2023). Humble leadership : a review and synthesis of leader expressed humility. Journal of organizational behavior, 44 (2) : 202-224.
Kim T.Y. et al. (2015). Leader–member exchange and job performance : the effects of taking charge and organizational tenure. Journal of organizational behavior, 36 (2) : 216-231.
Lee H.W. et al. (2021). To thine own (empowered) self be true : aligning social hierarchy motivation and leader behavior. Journal of applied psychology, 106 (7) : 1033-1048.
Li S.L. et al. (2015). When and why empowering leadership increases followers’ taking charge : a multilevel examination in China. Asia pacific journal of management, 32 : 645-670.
Lin X. et al. (2019). Why and when employees like to speak up more under humble leaders ? The roles of personal sense of power and power distance. Journal of business ethics, 158 : 937-950.
Lin X. et al. (2024). How do humble leaders unleash followers’ leadership potential ? The roles of workplace status and individualistic orientation. Journal of organizational behavior, 45 (6) : 818-836.
Oc B. et al. (2020). Humility breeds authenticity : how authentic leader humility shapes follower vulnerability and felt authenticity. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 158 : 112-125.
Ou A.Y. et al. (2014). Humble chief executive officers’ connections to top management team integration and middle managers’ responses. Administrative science quarterly, 59 (1) : 34-72.
Owens B.P. et al. (2013). Expressed humility in organizations : implications for performance, teams, and leadership. Organization science, 24 (5) : 1517-1538.
Owens B.P. et Hekman D.R. (2016). How does leader humility influence team performance ? Exploring the mechanisms of contagion and collective promotion focus. Academy of management journal, 59 (3) : 1088-1111.
Walumbwa F.O. et al. (2007). Leadership, individual differences, and work‐related attitudes : a cross‐culture investigation. Applied psychology, 56 (2) : 212-230.
Wang L. et al. (2018). Exploring the affective impact, boundary conditions, and antecedents of leader humility. Journal of applied psychology, 103 (9) : 1019-1038.
Zhang W. et Liu W. (2019). Leader humility and taking charge : the role of OBSE and leader prototypicality. Frontiers in psychology, 10 (2515) : 1-10.
Zhong J. et al. (2020). Can leader humility enhance employee wellbeing ? The mediating role of employee humility. Leadership and organization development journal, 41 (1) : 19-36.
Zhong J. et al. (2024). Humble leader, successful follower : linking leader humility with follower career outcomes via leader competence from an implicit leadership theory perspective. Journal of vocational behavior, 155 (104060) : in press.
Source image :
Markus Spiske – Pièces de jeu brunes sur surface blanche (2018). https://unsplash.com/fr/photos/pieces-de-jeu-brunes-sur-surface-blanche-QozzJpFZ2lg
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Christophe Rodo (1 mai 2025). L’entrainante humble direction (épisode 314). Cerveau en argot. Consulté le 12 février 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/13usl