Leadership and Employee Work Passion: Propositions for Future Empirical Investigations

Abstract

There has been growing research interest in work passion; however, limited research has been conducted on the role of work environment antecedents on which employee cognitions and affect are formed and employee work intentions are developed. Research has shown that leadership is fundamental and influential in contemporary organizations, and it affects numerous positive employee and organizational outcomes, yet questions relating to which leadership behaviors encourage (or discourage) employee work passion, and how such processes occur, remain unanswered. Our analysis of two distinct streams of research—employee work passion and leadership theory—resulted in the development of a theoretical model that links leadership (behavior and values), employee affect, and employee work intentions. We propose that employee affect will mediate relations between leadership and work intentions. Research propositions and recommendations for future research are presented.