While previous research has predominantly focused on the functional effects of team temporal leadership on follower and team consequences, little is known about the consequences for leaders themselves who facilitate time management in teams. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, we integrated both recipients’ and actors’ perspective to propose a “double-edged sword” effect of temporal leadership. Utilizing multi-wave and multi-source data from R&D project teams, we find that while temporal leadership alleviates team members’ emotional exhaustion and enhances their performance, it simultaneously depletes leaders’ resources, leading to leaders’ increased emotional exhaustion and decreased performance. Furthermore, we examine the moderating role of task complexity, discovering that temporal leadership is particularly effective in complex task contexts, significantly reducing member emotional exhaustion and fostering performance outcomes. However, task complexity does not moderate the detrimental effects of temporal leadership on emotional exhaustion experienced by leaders. These findings offer a more balanced perspective on temporal leadership, revealing a potential resource paradox in team time management. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for temporal leadership in the workplace.
