Self-Sacrificial Leadership Dynamics in Organizational Behavior

Self‐sacrificial leadership refers to a style in which individuals in formal authority willingly incur personal costs or risks to advance the interests of the organisation and its members. This approach has gained prominence for its capacity to strengthen leader–follower bonds, elicit heightened trust and foster collective identification. Empirical research indicates that visible acts of personal sacrifice—such as forgoing rewards, sharing workloads or absorbing organisational stressors—can activate followers’ prosocial motivations, encourage knowledge sharing and stimulate organisational citizenship behaviours that exceed formal role expectations. Theoretical models integrate perspectives from social identity theory, conservation of resources theory and social exchange theory to explain how leader self‐sacrifice triggers emotional, cognitive and motivational pathways. While positive outcomes are well documented, recent findings also underscore boundary conditions: in the absence of perceived authenticity or when followers suspect instrumental motives, self‐sacrificial signals may backfire, engendering cynicism and reduced discretionary effort. Ongoing studies aim to delineate antecedents—such as leaders’ moral identity and ethical orientation—and explore interventions that embed sustainable self‐sacrificial practices within diverse cultural and organisational contexts.

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Self-Sacrificial Leadership Dynamics in Organizational Behavior publication trend

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Technical terms

Self‐sacrificial leadership: A leadership style in which leaders willingly incur personal costs or risks to advance collective goals and the welfare of followers.

Team identification: The degree to which individuals define themselves by and feel attached to their team or group.

Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB): Voluntary actions by employees that extend beyond formal job requirements to benefit the organisation.

Psychological empowerment: A motivational state characterised by feelings of meaning, competence, autonomy and impact in one’s work role.

References

1. The Effects of Leader Self-Sacrifice in Virtual Teams on Prosocial Behavior: The Mediational Role of Team Identification and Self-Efficacy. Sustainability (2023).
2. A Literature Review of Self-Sacrificial Leadership. Psychology (2016).
3. When Self-Sacrificial Leaders Induce Employees’ Citizenship Behaviors? Uncovering the Nexus of Psychological Empowerment and Psychological Well-Being. SAGE Open (2022).
4. How Does Self-Sacrificial Leadership Foster Knowledge Sharing Behavior in Employees? Moral Ownership, Felt Obligation and Supervisor-Subordinate Guanxi. Frontiers in Psychology (2022).
5. Under the mask: The double-edged sword effect of leader self-sacrifice on employee work outcomes. Frontiers in Psychology (2023).