Unpacking the Good Soldier Syndrome: The Role of Authentic Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

The importance of Authentic Leadership (AL) within management studies has increased dramatically since the beginning of the 21st Century (Clapp-Smith et al., 2009). Numerous episodes of corporate misconduct and government malfeasance occurred during the last two decades have led to a loss of confidence of civil society in both corporate and political leaders (Peus et al., 2011). This has called for the development of a more genuine typology of leadership that, basing on commonly held values and contemporary societal challenges, is able to work for the greater good in a more effective way (Rosenthal et al., 2009; Peus et al., 2011). Current literature on AL theoretically posits that investing in the development of authentic leaders, as those leaders acting “in accordance with deep personal values and convictions, to build credibility and win the respect and trust of followers” (Avolio et al., 2004, p. 806), may vehicle the achievement of several accomplishments by the followers (Avolio, 2004). In particular, authentic leadership has been positively associated with work commitment and effort, job satisfaction and, lastly, with work performance (Peus et al., 2011). However, while the relationship between AL and Work Performance (WP) has been analysed extensively from a theoretical point of view, empirical evidence on the existence of such relationship remain quite scarce. Moreover, the analysis of the mechanisms underlying the relationship remains underdeveloped (Gardner et al., 2011). Hence, the purpose of the present paper is to unpack the relationship between AL - in its four components, namely balanced processing, internalized moral perspective, relational transparency and self-awareness - and WP, by exploring the underlying mechanisms. To do this this, the paper relies on two main theoretical concepts: LeaderMember Exchange theory (LMX), suggesting that leaders develop a different and heterogeneous exchange relationship with each subordinate (Liden and Maslyn, 1998; Anand et al., 2017); and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), as an “individual behaviour that is discretionary, not explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organization” (Organ, 1988, pag. 4). Specifically, the paper proposes a conceptual model to evaluate the moderating effect of Organizational Citizenship Behavior - Individual (OCB-I), and Organizational Citizenship Behavior - Organization (OCB-O), and Followership on the relationship between AL and Work Performance.