Leader-team Perceptual Distance Affects Outcomes of Leadership Training: Examining Safety Leadership and Follower Safety Self-efficacy

Whether leaders and their teams agree or not on perceptions of leadership has been found to impact follower well-being and performance. Less is known about how agreements or disagreements play a role in relation to safety and leadership training. The present study examined the effects of leaders’ and followers’ perceptual distance on safety leadership prior to a leadership safety training. Forty-eight leaders and a total of 211 followers from the paper industry completed surveys before and after training. Polynomial regression with response surface analyses revealed that the agreement between leaders and their followers regarding safety leadership before training was positively related to training outcomes including safety leadership and followers’ safety self-efficacy. Line managers who overrated themselves on safety leadership before training had less favorable training outcomes. Our findings suggest that 360-degree feedback may not be sufficient for motivating leaders to change their behaviors during leadership training.