Examining the nexus between entrepreneurial leadership and employees’ innovative behavior: the moderation mediation model

Why the Way Leaders Act Matters for Everyday Workers

In fast-changing markets, companies depend on employees not just to do their jobs, but to come up with new ideas and better ways of working. This study looks at a specific kind of leader—one who thinks and acts like an entrepreneur—and asks how such leadership sparks employees’ passion for their work and, in turn, their willingness to innovate. It also examines why some workers respond strongly to this leadership style while others do not, focusing on how much people personally want to grow and develop in their careers.

Leaders Who Think Like Entrepreneurs

The authors focus on “entrepreneurial leadership,” a style in which managers actively seek new opportunities, challenge routines, and push for change and innovation. Unlike traditional, more cautious leadership, entrepreneurial leaders scan their environment for growth possibilities, encourage risk-taking, and support creative problem-solving. Earlier research had already shown that this style can boost company performance and innovation overall. What remained unclear was how it shapes the day-to-day feelings and behaviors of individual employees—especially their passion for work and their own innovative actions, such as proposing new ideas, improving processes, or trying out novel solutions.

How Work Feelings Turn into New Ideas

The study draws on “affective events theory,” which views workplaces as streams of emotional events. According to this view, what leaders do—how they talk, behave, and make decisions—creates emotional moments for employees that shape how they feel and ultimately how they behave. When employees see their leaders boldly pursuing opportunities, sharing a clear vision, and backing experimentation, these events can trigger positive emotions and a stronger emotional bond with their work, known here as work passion. Passionate employees feel their work is meaningful, invest more time and energy, and experience excitement and deep involvement. These intense, positive feelings help workers notice new possibilities, think more broadly about problems, and persist when trying to turn ideas into reality, which makes innovative behavior more likely.

Who Thrives Most Under Entrepreneurial Leaders

Not everyone reacts to the same leader in the same way. The researchers examined “growth need strength,” a personal tendency to seek learning, challenge, and career advancement. Employees with high growth needs relish difficult tasks, want to develop new skills, and welcome chances to prove themselves. The study found that these people were especially responsive to entrepreneurial leadership: when such leaders were present, high-growth employees showed stronger passion for their work and, as a result, engaged more in innovation. In contrast, employees with low growth needs—those less driven by challenge and change—did not experience the same surge in passion or innovative behavior, even under the same leadership style.

What the Study Did and Found

The authors surveyed 354 employees from more than 20 companies in several major Chinese cities, using established questionnaires to measure how strongly workers perceived their leaders as entrepreneurial, how passionate they felt about their jobs, how much they desired personal growth at work, and how often they engaged in innovative actions. Using statistical modeling, they showed three main results. First, entrepreneurial leadership significantly boosted employees’ work passion. Second, passionate employees were more likely to behave innovatively. Third, passion partly explained how entrepreneurial leaders encourage innovation: leadership increased passion, and that passion, in turn, fueled new ideas and behaviors. The study also confirmed that growth need strength sharpened this chain of effects—employees with stronger growth needs gained more passion from entrepreneurial leadership and translated that passion into more innovation.

What This Means for Workplaces Today

These findings suggest that if organizations want more innovation from their people, they should not rely on tools and technology alone; they also need leaders who act like entrepreneurs and employees who are eager to grow. Entrepreneurial leaders can ignite passion by sharing bold visions, supporting experimentation, and recognizing creative efforts. At the same time, companies can select and develop workers who have strong growth needs, then nurture their enthusiasm through autonomy, support, and meaningful challenges. For a layperson, the message is straightforward: when leaders are willing to explore, take smart risks, and back their teams, and when employees are hungry to learn and develop, the workplace becomes a fertile ground where passion at work naturally blossoms into fresh ideas and improvements.

Citation: Xu, B., Gu, D. Examining the nexus between entrepreneurial leadership and employees’ innovative behavior: the moderation mediation model. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 13, 435 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-06751-w

Keywords: entrepreneurial leadership, work passion, innovative behavior, employee growth, organizational change