Leadership in layers: An integrative review on skip-level leadership and an agenda for future research

Abstract

In this integrative review, we spotlight the skip-level leader − an often-overlooked yet highly influential figure in organizations. Although empirical interest in skip-level leaders has grown across disciplines, research to date remains dispersed, inconsistent in conceptualization, and disconnected from the broader organizational literature. To provide a clear and comprehensive understanding of skip-level leaders, we organize our review around four key emergent functions, skip level leaders’: 1) direct relationship with employee outcomes, 2) indirect relationship with employee outcomes via direct supervisors, 3) interactive relationship via skip-level leader attributes, and 4) the relationship of employee attributes with skip-level leader attributes (i.e., upward relationship). We present these functions both graphically and thematically as a roadmap for future research. Importantly, existing scholarship on skip-level leadership research is dominated by non-causal studies, limiting the field’s ability to draw robust causal inferences. We critically evaluate the methodological rigor of this literature, and propose remedies to strengthen future scholarship. By systematically reviewing and synthesizing prior work, we bring greater visibility to skip-level leaders as key actors in leadership science and aim to stimulate deeper inquiry into the diverse ways they shape organizational dynamics.