Purpose To address this question, this study aims to drew from resource-based view to examine the mediating role organisational innovation in the relationship between change-oriented leadership and organisational performance. Design/methodology/approach Given that the unit of analysis is an organisation, 219 principal officers, including Presidents/Rectors, Vice Presidents/Vice-Rectors, Registrars and Deans, were invited to complete the survey on behalf of their universities. Findings Results of the partial least squares structural equation modelling confirmed the positive relationship between change-oriented leadership and university performance. The results provide evidence that organisational innovation directly facilitates university performance. As expected, the relationship between change-oriented leadership and university performance was found to be mediated by organisational innovation. Practical implications Overall, this study successfully modelled organisational innovation as an underlying mechanism behind the change-oriented leadership – university performance relationship, thereby by testing resource-based theory in Saudi Arabian context. From a practical perspective, results suggest that to improve their performance is imperative for executive leaders in Saudi universities to focus on several specific work design strategies, obtaining feedback about their change-oriented leadership style from followers. Originality/value Whilst there has been a considerable amount of research emphasising the importance of change-oriented leadership, there has been little research linking this fundamental aspect of leadership to organisational performance. Yet an understanding of the possible mechanisms behind this linkage has not received attention.