Drawing on the moral virtue theory of status attainment (MVT), this research investigates whether and when humble leaders accumulate their status from followers. Influenced by humble leaders’ self-awareness, openness, and teachability, followers admire humble leaders and meanwhile can perceive less weakness from those leaders. The positive influences of leader humility can be strengthened by followers’ moral potency. When followers are high in followers’ moral potency, they admire the humble virtue in leader humility and tend to confer more status to their leaders. Similarly, when followers are high in followers’ moral potency, they are less likely to perceive leader weakness due to humble leader’s capacity to maintain influences when facing moral problems. Those followers are more likely to confer status to humble leaders.
