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Introduction
With the development of positive psychology, more and more scholarly attention has been paid to strengths theory (Bakker and van Woerkom, 2018). Strengths refer to “the characteristics of a person that allow them to perform well or at their personal best” (Wood et al., 2011, p. 15). A vast amount of research has confirmed strengths to positively relate to an individual's well-being (e.g., Peterson et al., 2007) and performance (e.g., Van Woerkom et al., 2016). Given that, researchers in the field of leadership theory have attempted to connect strengths theory with leadership theory to optimize the functions of leadership (Linley et al., 2007). Peter (1967), in his book named as “The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done”, wrote that the effective executive's task is to utilize the strengths of each man as a solid foundation for joint performance. Additionally, the most profound finding of Gallup showed that the most effective leaders are always investing in strengths (Rath and Conchie, 2008). Subsequently, numerous scholars directed their interest toward strengths-based leadership (SBL) (e.g., Burkus, 2011; Welch et al., 2014).
However, research on SBL is still in its infancy. Although SBL has been shown to have positive effects on employees' attitude and performance (Rath and Conchie, 2008), to our knowledge, no empirical research confirmed these claims. Therefore, the current study aims to redress the gap by empirically testing the relationship between subordinate-oriented SBL (SSBL) and subordinates’ job performance including task performance and innovative behavior with a sample of Chinese employees working in various organizations.
Moreover, we also consider supervisor–subordinate guanxi (SSG) as a mediator of relationship between SSBL and job performance. SSG as an indigenous construct rooted in Chinese society refers to informal personal connections between supervisor and subordinate (Chen et al., 2004). In contrast to a Western concept regarding supervisor–subordinate relation, namely, leader–member exchange, SSG “in China covers mainly non-work exchanges within the vertical dyad, and the benefits being exchanged can be social and economic in nature” (Liu and Wang, 2013, p. 1473). Previous research has found that SSG is an important facilitator of job performance (e.g., Guan and Frenkel, 2019). According to social exchange theory, employees who benefit from supervisor will experience higher supervisor–subordinate...