Influence-based leadership as a determinant of the inclination to innovate and of innovation-related behaviors

The Lazarus theory, which has been adapted to the context of innovation, is used as a basis for developing a model to explain how leadership affects cognitive processes of perceiving the work setting (need for and susceptibility to change), innovative behaviors (generation and testing of ideas, and implementation), and innovation-blocking behaviors (intrapsychic coping and flight). Leadership is described in terms of selected bases of influence (identification, expert knowledge/information, granting freedom and autonomy, support for innovation, and openness of the decision-making process). The model's explanatory power is tested on a sample of 399 middle managers from different German organizations of various sizes and sectors. Hierarchical regression analyses show that granting freedom and autonomy and using expert knowledge and information have the most positive effect on these cognitive processes and innovative behaviors, and the most negative effect on innovation-blocking behaviors.