Creativity Expectations of Leaders and Radical Creativity Through Creative Efficacy of Employees: The Mediating Role of Leaders’ Paradoxical Behaviour

Abstract

Background: Studies show that leaders play a crucial role in shaping employees’ behavioural patterns and creativity in the workplace. However, the relationship between leadership and radical creativity is complex but not clearly understood.

Objective: The study explores how leaders' creativity expectations impact workers' radical creativity, examining creative self-efficacy and leaders' paradoxical behaviour in workload pressure and radical innovation

Methodology:The study employed a cross-sectional research design, collecting data from personnel in the Human Resources and Research & Development departments of major industrial enterprises within Bangladesh's Export Processing Zones. A total of 340 respondents participated, comprising 62 supervisors and 278 employees. To ensure the model's validity, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess model fit, while Hierarchical Linear Modelling (HLM) was utilised to test the proposed hypotheses. Additionally, a multilevel moderated mediation model was applied to analyse the final results.

Results: The results demonstrate that leaders' creativity expectations (LCE) positively affect creative self-efficacy (CSE) and radical creativity, particularly when leaders display elevated levels of paradoxical behaviour (PLB) and workers experience substantial workload pressure. The findings suggest that manufacturing firms can advance by leveraging the creative self-efficacy of both employees and leaders.

Conclusion: Creative self-efficacy requires not just encouraging radical innovation but also navigating the contradictory hurdles inherent in substantial creative pursuits.

Unique contribution: This study provides empirical evidence that leaders' creativity expectations (LCE) and paradoxical leader behaviour (PLB), which integrate performance expectations with autonomy and constraints with flexibility, can enhance employees' creative self-efficacy (CSE) and radical creativity, particularly under conditions of high workload pressure.