The relationship between perceived leader charisma and follower innovation

Abstract

Leadership research is aligned that the most important drivers of follower innovation in organisations are their leaders. Yet there is no specific leadership style that has been irrefutably identified to inspire innovation. The lack of consistency and consensus in the leadership style that influences follower innovation has been driven by the styles that have been researched in relation to follower innovation being too broad. This research aimed to unbundle the charismatic element of leadership which could be found in some leadership styles. To this end, the research further categorized charismatic leaders as either positive or negative. This assisted in understanding the relationship between perceived leader charisma and follower innovation with employee voice as a moderator. Online questionnaires were sent to a target population which comprised of professionals, middle and senior managers who work in the technology industry in South Africa using purposive and snowballing sampling techniques. Data collected from 329 participants was used to assess validity and reliability of the measuring instrument for the study. Employing regression analyses, the research showed that perceived charismatic leadership as well as perceived positive charismatic leader behaviours are both positively related to follower innovation. Further, employee voice positively enhances these relationships. No significant relationship was identified between perceived negative charismatic leader behaviours and follower innovation. However employee voice negatively moderated this relationship. The findings of this research offer empirically validated evidence to suggest a relationship between perceived positive charismatic leaders, which future researchers can develop on.