Do Humble Leaders Have Resilient Followers? An Exploration

Abstract

This research examines how humble leadership affects healthcare workers' resilience in Jammu and Kashmir, India. As organizations face increasing uncertainty, they need effective leadership strategies to help employees adapt to workplace challenges. The study analyzed data from 375 healthcare workers using statistical methods including EFA, CFA, and SEM through AMOS 20.0 software. Employee resilience was found to be positively influenced by humble leadership (β = 0.259, p < 0.001) indicating that humble leaders create an atmosphere that improves workers' capacity to handle obstacles at work. The moderate strength of this relationship indicates that there are factors that shape resilience. Analysis of demographic variables further revealed age and gender differences, with older employees exhibiting higher resilience and men scoring higher than women, while work experience did not significantly influence resilience, challenging previous assumptions. This work advances the discipline of leadership studies by highlighting humility as a crucial leadership quality that fosters resilience. While also contributing to demographic theories by validating age and gender- based resilience differences. Practically, the findings highlight the need for leadership development programs that nurture humility and supportive workplace cultures, alongside tailored resilience-building initiatives, particularly for younger and female employees. The study's cross-sectional design precludes the establishment of distinct causal relationships. Additionally, the research's specific focus on the healthcare sector in Jammu and Kashmir restricts the ability to generalize these findings to other contexts.. Future research should employ longitudinal studies and multi-source data collection methods to explore additional determinants of resilience, such as organizational culture and job demands. Being among the first empirical studies on humble leadership and employee resilience in Jammu and  Kashmir’s healthcare sector, this research provides valuable insights for both academic discourse and organizational policymaking, emphasizing leadership’s role in fostering employee adaptability in high-stress environments.