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In this research, the authors test a model in which the regulatory focus of employees at work mediates the influence of leadership on employee behavior. In a nationally representative sample of 250 workers who responded over 2 time periods, prevention focus mediated the relationship of initiating structure to in-role performance and deviant behavior, whereas promotion focus mediated the relationship of servant leadership to helping and creative behavior. The results indicate that even though initiating structure and servant leadership share some variance in explaining other variables, each leadership style incrementally predicts disparate outcomes after controlling for the other style and dispositional tendencies. A new regulatory focus scale, the Work Regulatory Focus (WRF) Scale, also was developed and initially validated for this study. Implications for the results and the WRF Scale are discussed. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

Six hundred fifty-two employees composing 51 work teams participated in a study examining relationships among team composition (ability and personality), team process (social cohesion), and team outcomes (team viability and team performance). Mean, variance, minimum, and maximum were 4 scoring methods used to operationalize the team composition variables to capture the team members' characteristics. With respect to composition variables, teams higher in general mental ability (GMA), conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and emotional stability received higher supervisor ratings for team performance. Teams higher in GMA, extraversion, and emotional stability received higher supervisor ratings for team viability. Results also show that extraversion and emotional stability were associated with team viability through social cohesion. Implications and future research needs are discussed.

Servant leadership (SL), characterized by enduring qualities of genuine caring, humility, and empathy, has been positively associated with numerous leader effectiveness outcomes (e.g., employee satisfaction) across sport and non-sport settings. This study addresses the need to more thoroughly investigate follower characteristics that may allow servant leadership to be more (or less) effective in a sport context. Drawing from leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, this study predicted head coach bottom-line mentality (i.e. 1-dimensional, win-at-all-costs attitude) would negatively impact the relationship between athletic director SL and head coach commitment. Surveying a sample of 810 interscholastic high schools (HCs) across the USA, Structural Equation Modeling revealed SL's positive effect on head coach commitment. Analysis also revealed the interaction of SL and bottom-line mentality had a significant negative impact on commitment. Thus, when follower bottom-line mentality is win-at-all-costs, the positive influence of SL appears to be diminished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]