exchange. Effective exchange relationships were found to yield correlations in the .30s not
only with creativity ratings and invention disclosures, but also indices of intrinsic motivation
and use of requisite cognitive problem-solving strategies.
In still another study of creativity and innovation,
and
examined creativity among 171 manufacturing workers where
creativity was assessed by patent disclosures, contributions to a suggestion program, and
supervisory ratings of creativity. Supervisory support for new ideas was found to be related to
these indices of creativity with support proving particularly important for those employees
who evidenced a disposition towards creativity.
The importance of effective leadership in bringing out innovation among creative people is
also illustrated in a study by
. He obtained measures of creative performance
in a sample of 200 scientists working in government, industry, and academia along with one
measure of creative capacity—specifically
Remote Associ-
ations Test. Subsequent analyses indicated that, when the leader’s supervisory style tended to
inhibit the introduction of new ideas, creative potential was not related to performance. When,
however, a more appropriate style was employed, creative ability was found to be related to
performance.
Taken as a whole, the findings obtained in these studies point to two critical conclusions.
First, leadership, at least certain types of leadership, is apparently related to creativity and
innovation in ‘‘real-world’’ settings. Second, the influence tactics used by leaders apparently
affect people’s willingness to engage in, and the likely success of, creative ventures.
With these points in mind, our intent in the present article is to examine the attributes of
leadership related to creativity and innovation. We will begin by considering the character-
istics of leaders that appear to be required in promoting the performance of people engaged in
creative work. Subsequently, we will examine the tactics used by these leaders as they interact
with two key constituencies: (a) the people doing the work and (b) the broader organization
that provides a context for this work. In examining the tactics employed by leaders of creative
efforts, we will consider both interpersonal relations as well as distant, structure-based, tactics
that appear to contribute to creativity and innovation. Before turning to our observations with
regard to leader characteristics, leader influence tactics, and organizational relationships,
however, it would seem germane to consider the nature of creative work, and creative people,
to set the stage for our subsequent observations about leaders.
1. Creativity and innovation
1.1. The work
Although we typically associate creative work with artists and scientists, creative work is
not defined with respect to a particular occupation
(Mumford, Whetzel, & Reiter-Palmon,
1997)
. Instead, creative work occurs on jobs, any job, that involves certain types of tasks.
Specifically, creative work can occur when the tasks presented involve complex, ill-defined
problems where performance requires the generation of novel, useful solutions
M.D. Mumford et al. / The Leadership Quarterly 13 (2002) 705–750
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