THE EFFECT OF LEADERSHIP HUMILITY ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA.

This study examined the relationship between leadership humility and employee performance in deposit money banks in Nigeria. Leadership behaviors that increase staff productivity have become essential to organizational success as the banking sector continues to face growing competition, technological change, and increased client demands. The study examined the relationship between employee performance as determined by task performance and contextual performance and the three elements of leadership humility: self-awareness, appreciation of others, and teachability. A quantitative cross-sectional survey research design was adopted, and data were collected from employees and management staff of selected deposit money banks in Nigeria using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) through descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, and multiple regression analysis. The findings revealed that leadership humility has a significant positive relationship with employee performance. Specifically, self-awareness enhanced employee trust, accountability, and job effectiveness; appreciation of others emerged as the strongest predictor of employee performance by improving motivation, commitment, and recognition; while teachability significantly promoted collaboration, continuous learning, and knowledge sharing among employees. The study concludes that leadership humility is an important determinant of employee performance in deposit money banks, as leaders who demonstrate humility create supportive work environments that encourage higher levels of task and contextual performance. The study recommends that deposit money banks should incorporate leadership humility into leadership development programmes, strengthen employee recognition practices, encourage continuous learning among leaders, and integrate humble leadership behaviours into leadership selection and performance evaluation systems to improve employee effectiveness and organizational performance.