Relational impact of authentic and transactional leadership styles on employee creativity

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore how authentic leadership and transactional leadership styles in Ghanaian telecom firms influence employees’ creativity, and the effect that climate for innovation and work-related flow have on such influencing relationship. Design/methodology/approach - Guided by the implicit theory of leadership, and using questionnaires, data were collected from 335 employees in five mining firms and analyzed descriptively and inferentially. Findings - It was found that managers in the telecom firms use transactional leadership styles and authentic leadership styles to enhance employees’ creativity. The work climate fostered employees’ creativity and encouraged their innovation. The prevalence of work-related flow enhanced employees’ job performances. The innovative climate mediated the effect of authentic leadership on employees’ creativity, but moderated the effect of transactional leadership on the employees’ creativity. Work-related flow also moderated the effects of both authentic and transactional leadership styles on employee creativity. It is concluded that managers in telecom firms influence their followers’ creativity by altering their leadership styles in accordance with the given situation to achieve organizational goals. Research limitations/implications - The study sample was drawn from a single sub-sector of the Ghanaian economy. This represents a limitation, for which the findings cannot be generalized. Replications and extensions of the study in different industrial sectors will help test the robustness and generalizability of the findings. Originality/value - This study has shown that managers of telecom firms in Ghana can cultivate and nurture the creativities of their employees toward increased performances by creating conducive psychosocial work climate that supports innovativeness, and use the requisite authentic and transactional leadership skills in the conduct of their managerial functions.