Instrumental leadership and creativity: cognitive mechanisms via problem-solving rumination and knowledge sharing with coworkers

Abstract

PurposeThe present research aimed to develop and test cognitive processes through which instrumental leadership leads to creativity via problem-solving rumination and knowledge sharing with coworkers, based on the self-regulatory perspective of goal progress theory.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 166 male construction workers (nested within 19 male leaders) who completed the total of 1,642 daily diary questionnaires. Further, a group-mean centering approach and several control variables were used in order to improve causal inferences of the results.FindingsIt was found that instrumental leadership predicts problem-solving rumination (an intrapersonal self-regulatory process) and knowledge sharing with coworkers (an interpersonal self-regulatory process), which, in turn, result in creativity.Originality/valueIn addition to motivational processes that explain the relationships between several leadership styles and creativity, the current research found a crucial role of instrumental leadership in predicting creativity.