The company you keep: Effects of leader and teams network position on performance

In this paper we argue that leaders positively influence team performance through their positions in a collaboration network. We propose also that the leader’s effect on team performance is moderated by the position of the team in the larger collaboration network. We distinguish between brokerage and cohesion as the extreme positions that a leader or team can occupy in a collaboration network. To test our hypotheses, we study a network of French movie teams (comprising directors, producers, art directors, editors, and cinematographers) between 1996 and 2010. We find that the network position of the team leader - the movie director - has a U-shaped effect on team performance. Leaders with either a brokerage or a cohesive network position contribute most to team performance. We show further that the benefits the leader can reap from his or her network position depend significantly on the team’s position in a collaboration network. Specifically, for high levels of team cohesion, the U-shaped effect of the team leader cohesion on performance flattens. We explore the implications of these results for scholars and practitioners.