Despite extensive research on the relationship between social exchange and employee innovation in teams, a comprehensive and quantitative synthesis of research findings is necessary to enhance and expand our understanding. A meta-analysis allows for the comparison of different social exchange relationships and their effects on employee innovation, as well as an investigation into the underlying mechanisms of innovation realization. The results showed that compared to Leader-Member Exchange (LMX), Team-Member Exchange (TMX) demonstrated the stronger relationship with employee innovation. Moreover, cognition and motivation mediated the relationship between TMX and innovation, while affect, cognition and motivation mediated the relationship between LMX and innovation. This paper synthesized a body of critical and thriving literature, thereby endeavoring to furnish evidence that can provide information for theoretical advancements, research methodologies, and updated policy recommendations concerning social exchange relationships for individual innovation.

Purpose: Drawing on a social constructionist perspective of leadership, this study aims to investigate how and when emotional intelligence is transformed into leadership emergence through individuals’ vertical and horizontal social exchange relationships. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from team network data involving 313 subordinates and their 84 supervisors across 51 work teams in China. Findings: The results showed that a member’s emotional intelligence is related to their leadership emergence via both leader-member exchange and team-member exchange. Collectivist culture enhances the relationship between emotional intelligence and team-member exchange as well as the indirect relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership emergence via team-member exchange (rather than leader-member exchange). Originality/value: We shift the focus from the information-processing perspective of emotional intelligence to a social construction perspective of leadership, particularly in collectivist cultures that value interdependence. This research contributes to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions of the link between emotional intelligence and leadership emergence.

Most academic work concludes that supervisors are typically viewed as providers rather than seekers of emotional support, as emotional support-seeking may be seen as a threat to their status in the workplace. However, this conclusion is incomplete due to two limitations in prior studies: (1) the tendency to interpret emotional support-seeking by high-status individuals as a lack of task-oriented competence, overlooking the relational dimension inherent in such behavior; and (2) neglecting subordinates’ expectations of authentic and approachable leadership prototypes. This study focuses on how and when supervisors’ emotional support-seeking enhances their leadership influence, from a leadership perspective that integrates relations-oriented and task-oriented dimensions. Drawing on a social network approach and regression analysis, we tested our hypotheses using data from 93 teams in 51 Chinese organizations, comprising 150 supervisors and 525 direct subordinates. The results reveal that supervisors’ emotional support-seeking is positively associated with their leadership influence via LMX efficiency. Furthermore, managerial competence moderates the relationship between supervisors’ emotional support-seeking and their LMX efficiency. This study challenges the prevailing assumption that emotional support-seeking undermines status, highlighting the positive impact of supervisors’ emotional support-seeking on their relationship and leadership in the workplace.