Goal-focused abusive leaders: The mitigating role of conscientiousness in subordinates' counterproductive work behavior.

This article examines how goal-focused leadership interacts with abusive supervision to influence subordinates' counterproductive work behavior (CWB), considering the moderating role of conscientiousness. Using two multinational samples from the United States and South Korea, the study finds that goal-focused leadership—defined as leadership that communicates and aligns employees with organizational goals—exacerbates the positive relationship between abusive supervision and CWB, particularly among subordinates low in conscientiousness, a personality trait characterized by organization and dependability. The research applies the stressor-emotion model and conservation of resources theory to explain that the combined demands of abusive and goal-focused leadership deplete employees' resources, leading to increased CWB as a coping mechanism. The findings suggest that while goal-focused leadership is generally viewed positively, it can act as a stressor when paired with abusive supervision, and organizations should not tolerate abusive supervision even if it is associated with high performance.