Ambidextrous Leadership And Creative Tendency: Trust In Leader As Mediator

Abstract

Understanding the complexity of employee creativeness is vitally important as it is one of the most demanded skills for organizations to gain an advantage over competitors and ensure continuous improvement. Scholars have established that leadership is a critical driver of individual creativeness, however, the question of what type of leadership style better promotes creativity still needs to be investigated. Along with its opening and closing leader behaviors, ambidextrous leadership might provide a new perspective to stimulate creativity. On the other hand, being creative can be risky as it challenges the status quo. Given that creative people can be seen as troublemakers by some leaders, the perception of trust in leader may also be key to fostering creativity. In this respect, this study suggests a conceptual model for examining the separate and combined effects of ambidextrous leadership dimensions (i.e. opening and closing leader behaviors) on employees` creative tendency where trust in leader plays a mediator role. Managerial and further research implications are also discussed.