The mediating role of psychological safety on humble leadership and presenteeism in Japanese organizations1.
Akiko Matsuo, Masaki Tsujita, Kotoko Kita and 2 others
PMID 38489204WHAT IT FOUND
Humble leadership did not directly reduce presenteeism, but it increased team psychological safety, which then lowered productivity loss.
For therapists, this suggests fostering a safe environment where staff can admit errors may help maintain performance better than leadership style alone.
Key findings
01The direct effect of humble leadership on presenteeism was a non-significant trend, but the indirect effect via psychological safety was statistically significant.
02Humble leadership was positively associated with psychological safety.
03Psychological safety was negatively correlated with presenteeism.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that humble leadership causes safety or that safety causes reduced presenteeism; it only shows associations. All data came from self-reported surveys, which can be biased by social desirability or mood. The sample was limited to Japanese employees in private business sectors, so findings may not generalize to healthcare settings or other cultures. The direct effect of leadership on presenteeism was not significant, meaning leadership style alone did not predict performance loss in this model. Presenteeism was measured with a single item, which may not capture the full complexity of productivity loss.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that humble leadership directly improves productivity or reduces presenteeism. The study found no significant direct link. The benefit appears to work only through the intermediate step of creating psychological safety. Implementing humility training without addressing team safety norms may not yield the expected performance gains.