A team level examination of the creativity to innovation link

Abstract

"A vast body of literature exists that acknowledges the role and impact of both creativity and innovation. However, reaching to innovation from a creative idea is not a guaranteed outcome. Leaders have been found to be a key factor impacting creativity and innovation. This study aims to explore the following research question: To investigate how does leader humility and leader envy impact innovation at the team level. It aims to examine the mediating role of psychological safety. It also examines the mediating role of idea championing for creativity to innovation at the team level and examines the moderating role of political skill. Results from 106 R&D teams with 371 team members working in 14 institutes showed that leader humility relates positively to team creativity, idea championing, team innovation, and psychological safety, and leader envy had a negative impact on team creativity, idea championing, team innovation and psychological safety. Leader humility was shown to enhance team innovation by fostering psychological safety, whereas leader envy worsened team innovation by hampering psychological safety. Further, political skill was found to be moderating the idea championing and team innovation relationship. The study aims to advance the understanding of the process and intermediary factors that impact innovation in teams. It will help us to identify the process as well as boundary conditions that impact team innovation. The study makes contributions to the recent literature on leader characteristics and team innovation. The study is of significance to the leaders and managers of teams that are engaged in innovative pursuits."