Spiritual leadership and employee innovation

This study examines the effects of spiritual leadership on employees’ innovative work behavior (IWB) and how employees’ spiritual well-being intervenes this relationship. The research was based on a self-reported survey of 264 workers in China and was analyzed through multiple regression in structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships. The results of the study concluded that employees’ IWB is positively influenced by the effects of spiritual leadership. Furthermore, the effects of spiritual well-being intervened in explaining how spiritual leadership influences employee innovation. This study suggests that the innovative behavior of employees can be enhanced through initiating spiritual leadership practices that enable a spiritual workplace, which, in turn, can help organizations to more effectively cope with competitive market pressures to continuously innovate. Moreover, the study expands our current understanding of the role employee well-being can play in enriching individual creativity and innovation.