Although the benefits of inclusive leadership are widely recognized, the extant literature largely depends on cross-sectional or multi-wave designs, leaving a gap in our understanding of how and when inclusive leadership works. Using longitudinal data from 192 male soldiers in a Korean military boot camp collected over five weeks, we explore the reciprocal interplay between inclusive leadership and follower commitment over time. Utilizing a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM), we find significant between-person effects, indicating that individuals who consistently perceive their leaders as inclusive are more likely to feel emotionally attached to their organizations. However, no significant within-person effects were observed, suggesting that temporarily adopting inclusive behaviors does not immediately translate into follower commitment. These findings challenge and extend previously established relationships, suggesting that the effects of inclusive leadership hold only when the inclusive experience is perceived as a stable and consistent behavior over time, rather than through short-term changes.
