Maximizing organizational leadership capacity for the future : Toward a model of self‐leadership, innovation and creativity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and present a model of self‐leadership, innovation and creativity. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon existing theoretical and empirical evidence the paper develops and presents a conceptual model of the relationships between self‐leadership, innovation, creativity, and organizational support. The paper also presents research propositions based upon the relationships suggested by the model. Findings – The model suggests that individuals with strong self‐leadership will consider themselves to have more innovation and creativity potential than individuals who have weak self‐leadership, and that individuals who have innovation and creativity potential will be more likely to practise innovation and creativity when they perceive strong support from the workplace than individuals who perceive weak support from the workplace. Research limitations/implications – Future researchers should examine empirically the linkages suggested by this model along with other relationships asserted or implied by the creativity and self‐leadership literature as summarized in the paper. Practical implications – The model suggests that organizational leaders would be well advised to encourage the practice of self‐leadership among the members of organizations while striving to build work environments that support of creativity and innovation at the group, supervisor, and organizational levels. Originality/value – This paper makes a valuable contribution to both the self‐leadership and creativity literatures by being one of the first to examine the relationships between these important organizational concepts.