Abstract
Creative individuals are increasingly engaged by firms to spur novel and useful ideas. However, very little research has examined why and how characteristics of the leader- specifically proactive personality- congruent with those of their followers and influence followers’ creativity. Drawing upon prior research on proactive personality and person-environment fit, the present study argues that (in-) congruence in proactive personality between a leader and follower is an important underlying mechanism affecting creative idea generation at the individual level. Data were collected in two waves from followers and their leaders working in a large manufacturing company in India. Polynomial regression and response surface analysis supported our congruence hypotheses. In addition, results indicated that congruence in proactive personalities at high and low levels have differential effect on the follower’s creativity. The study contributes to the literature on three distinct areas (i.e., creativity, proactive personality and person-supervisor fit) by highlighting the critical role of leaders in fostering creativity among followers.
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