Wise Proactivity: Antecedents, Outcomes, and a Mechanism

Abstract

Being proactive involves taking personal initiative to change a situation or oneself. While research to date has paid considerable attention to the frequency with which individuals engage in proactive behaviors, less attention has been given to the ways in which people act proactively to garner positive outcomes. In this paper, we draw on the conceptualization of wise proactivity developed by Parker, Wang, and Liao in 2019 to construct a measure that captures employees' deliberate and thoughtful consideration of context, others, and self as they proactively initiate and pursue change in the workplace. Through a series of empirical studies, we investigate the key antecedents of wise proactivity, showing that it is predicted by wisdom and political skills. We also examine whether, and through what mechanism, wise proactivity affects the outcome of job performance. We show that wise proactivity predicts job performance above and beyond the frequency with which one engages in proactivity and does so because wise proactivity is perceived of as desirable. Our study highlights the value of shifting the focus in proactivity research and practice to explore how employees can engage in proactive behavior in a wise manner.