PurposeBased on the intrinsic motivation theory and spiritual leadership theory, the current study proposes a chain mediation model for testing the linkage between spiritual leadership and employees' innovative behavior through individual values and role identity.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, 309 valid leader–subordinate matching questionnaires from 10 Internet enterprises and 21 manufacturing enterprises in China were collected through a field study. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping.FindingsThe results show that spiritual leadership has a positive impact on employees' innovative behavior. Uncertainty avoidance and creative role identity not only respectively play a mediating role but also play a chain mediating role in the process of spiritual leadership influencing employees' innovative behavior.Originality/valueThis study explores the influence of leadership style on employees' individual values, which has rarely been done in previous studies. Furthermore, the research explores the impact of personal values (uncertainty avoidance) on employee self-perception (creative role identity). And it enriches the relationship between spiritual leadership and employees' innovative behavior and reveals the deeper influence mechanism between them.

Purpose Based on the social information processing theory, the purpose of this study is to propose a conceptualized moderated mediation model for testing the linkage between leader narcissism and employees’ innovative behavior through the mediating effect of employees’ cognitive dependency and the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty between employees’ cognitive dependency and their innovative behavior. Design/methodology/approach In this study, multisource data from 266 employees and their supervisors in 11 large high-tech Chinese companies were collected through a field study and an online survey. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping. Findings The results of this study show that leader narcissism has a negative impact on employees’ innovative behavior and that employees’ cognitive dependency plays a mediating role between leader narcissism and employees’ innovative behavior. Cognitive dependency and environmental uncertainty play moderated mediation roles between leader narcissism and employees’ innovative behavior. Research limitations/implications In the future, longitudinal research and experimental methods can be used to avoid common method bias. Further studies could allow leaders to evaluate environmental uncertainty and explore the emotional path by which leader narcissism has negative effects on followers’ innovation from social information processing theory. In addition, future studies can explore cognitive dependency more deeply from the perspectives of forced obedience and active worship. Practical implications Organizations should warn leaders to control the dark side of narcissism and minimize environmental uncertainty to reduce barriers to innovation. Originality/value This study constructs the path of the effect of leader narcissism on employees’ innovation through employees’ cognitive dependency in a specific context, which enriches theoretical research on the link between leaders’ traits and employees’ innovative behavior. Along with the finding of leader narcissism’s negative effect on employees’ innovative behavior, this study explores the dark side of leader narcissism in the context of China’s high-tech firms and environmental uncertainty.