Prototypical leaders reinforce efficacy beliefs: How and when leader–leader exchange relates to team effectiveness

Summary Integrating two social cognition‐based theories: social cognitive theory and implicit leadership theory, we propose that leader prototypicality perceptions are important boundary conditions for the effects of leader–leader exchange (LLX) on team performance through the mediating roles of team leaders' and team members' efficacy beliefs. Using time‐lagged, three‐source data from 231 retail store teams, we found that perceived superior prototypicality enhanced the relationship between LLX and team leader self‐efficacy and that perceived team leader prototypicality strengthened the relationship between LLX and team collective efficacy. Moreover, LLX was indirectly and positively related to team performance through the mediating role of team collective efficacy only when team members' perceptions of team leader group prototypicality were high. Our findings provide a deeper understanding of the role of LLX on team‐ and leader‐level outcomes and they further illuminate the key team processes that bridge the links and important contingencies for the team effects of LLX.