Linking paradoxical leadership and individual in-role and extra-role performance: a multilevel examination

Purpose Leaders in the hospitality industry encounter daily conflicting demands and paradoxes which call for adjusting their leadership philosophy from “either/or” to “both/and” leadership style. Therefore, drawing upon paradox, self-determination, social learning and job demands-resources perspectives, the purpose of this article is to examine the relationships between paradoxical leadership and employee in-role and extra-role performance outcomes. It also aims to explore the mediating effect of work engagement on the aforesaid linkages. Design/methodology/approach Multilevel analyses in Mplus 8.0 software were conducted on three-wave data from 238 employees working in 19 Pakistani hotels. Findings The authors found that paradoxical leadership influences employee in-role (job performance) and extra-role (innovative work behavior and voice behavior) performance directly and indirectly through employee work engagement. Originality/value This study addresses recent calls by highlighting the role of paradoxical leadership, an important yet underexplored leadership style in the hospitality literature. In addition, this is the first study examining the multilevel effect of paradoxical leadership on employees’ in-role and extra-role performance via work engagement.