The impact of the fit between needed and received empowering leadership on followers’ job-related outcomes: The mediating role of emotional exhaustion

Abstract

leadership needed and received on followers’ job-related outcomes and its underlying mechanisms. Third, the asymmetry effects of excessive versus deficient empowerment on followers’ emotional exhaustion revealed that in line with the “too much of a good thing” effect, empowering leadership is not a panacea. Overall, we shed valuable insights into the literature on empowerment by demonstrating that there is no optimal amount of empowerment. The consequences associated with a certain amount of empowerment differ among individuals. Our findings also offer important practical insights to leaders on how to leverage the benefits of empowering leadership.