Fitting in organizational values : The mediating role of person‐organization fit between CEO charismatic leadership and employee outcomes

Purpose – The current leadership literature has paid little attention to understanding the intervening mechanism by which leaders influence followers. In order to partially bridge this gap, the article aims to present a value‐fit charismatic leadership theory which focusses on the key intervening mechanism – person‐organization values fit. Design/methodology/approach – The model was tested empirically on 180 participants, including 51 managers and 129 employees from 37 large‐scale companies in Taiwan. Findings – Based on the block regression analysis, the results showed that CEO charismatic leadership has both direct and indirect effects on employees’ extra effort to work, satisfaction with the CEO, as well as organizational commitment, which are mediated by employees’ perceived person‐organization values fit. The findings also provided evidence that the relationship between charismatic leadership and person‐organization values fit is significant. Furthermore, the analysis also showed the significant effects of person‐organization values fit on employee outcomes. Originality/value – The study shows how CEO charismatic leadership can, through the mediating effect of person‐organization values fit, have profound influence on employee outcomes.