Must Have or Nice to Have? Necessary Leadership Competencies to Enable Employees Innovative Behavior

Encouraging employees’ innovative behavior (EIB) is one of the most important leadership task and numerous studies have examined the links between leadership and EIB. However, the research field is highly fragmented and does not provide a unified conception of innovative leadership. Using a qualitative content analysis, we investigate which leadership competencies are mentioned related to EIB. We turn away from leadership styles and apply a behavioral-focused competency approach. We first identify specific competencies mentioned in connection with EIB. Subsequently, we prioritize the results by examining which leader competencies are described as necessary conditions for EIB. The results show clear differences between competencies described as innovation-promoting and competencies characterized as necessary for EIB. Of the variety of competencies considered as EIB- promoting, only a very small part seems to be a necessary prerequisite for EIB. Based on the results, we present seven theoretical propositions and a concise model of innovative leadership.