How Leadership Shapes Behavior and Why It Matters Now More Than Ever

Why do employees mirror the behaviors of their leaders, both the good and the bad? Leadership doesn’t just influence performance metrics, it shapes how people think, act, and relate within an organization.

Leadership plays a fundamental role in shaping individual and collective behavior within organizations by influencing employee motivation, innovation, and interpersonal interactions. Studies consistently demonstrate that leadership styles that are empowering, transformational, and ethical serve as behavioral models that employees emulate in their attitudes and actions.

Empowering leadership behaviors, such as personal development support, participative decision-making, and delegation of authority, have been found to significantly enhance employee innovation and engagement. In a study of Chinese industrial workers, leadership empowering behavior was positively associated with thriving at work, defined by vigor and learning, which in turn predicted greater innovative behavior. This supports the understanding that leaders shape employee initiative and creativity by fostering autonomy and psychological safety (Ye, Liu, & Tan, 2022).​

Transformational leadership has a pronounced effect on shaping employee behavior, particularly through mechanisms of psychological capital and thriving at work. Transformational leaders inspire employees by articulating a compelling vision, providing individualized consideration, and encouraging intellectual stimulation. In a 2025 study of over 390 IT professionals in South Korea, transformational leadership was found to enhance innovative behavior through dual mediation by psychological capital and thriving at work (Kim & Yoon, 2025). This finding illustrates that leaders influence not only external behaviors but also internal psychological states that drive employee proactivity and adaptation.​

Ethical leadership functions as a behavioral model, where leaders promote integrity, fairness, and accountability. Employees observe and internalize these behaviors, leading to higher moral awareness and readiness for organizational change (Brown & Treviño, 2006). Such leadership fosters trust and cooperation, reducing counterproductive behaviors and improving overall workplace climate.

Leadership serves as a cultural architect; by modeling norms and reinforcing shared values, leaders shape the patterns of behavior embedded in organizational culture. Research on organizational behavior indicates that leadership behavior influences how employees perceive acceptable conduct, impacting communication, collaboration, and ethical decision-making (Miraglia, 2024; Schein, 2010). Through role modeling and consistent actions, leaders align individual behavior with organizational goals.

In contrast, toxic and authoritarian leadership styles negatively shape behavior, leading to reduced engagement, psychological distress, and unethical conduct among subordinates (Schmidt, 2014; Krasikova et al., 2013). These findings reinforce that leadership does not merely influence performance, it defines behavioral norms that permeate the workplace.

Ultimately, leadership behavior is the blueprint for organizational culture. When leaders model empowerment, ethics, and vision, employees follow suit, transforming behavior from the inside out.

“Leadership behavior defines the culture more than any written policy ever could.” – Latasha Bailey

What leadership behaviors have most shaped your workplace experience?

References

Brown, M. E., & Treviño, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 595–616.

Kim, J. Y., & Yoon, D. Y. (2025). How transformational leadership of managers affects employee innovative behavior in IT corporations. Frontiers in Psychology, 16., https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1565307​

Krasikova, D. V., Green, S. G., & LeBreton, J. M. (2013). Destructive leadership: A theoretical review, integration, and future research agenda. Journal of Management, 39(5), 1308–1338.

Miraglia, V. (2024). The role of leadership in shaping organizational culture. Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal, 30(3), 145–160.

Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.

Schmidt, A. A. (2014). An examination of toxic leadership, job outcomes, and the impact of military deployment. U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Ye, P., Liu, L., & Tan, J. (2022). Influence of leadership empowering behavior on employee innovation behavior: The moderating effect of personal development support. Frontiers in Psychology, 13., https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1022377