Fostering creativity through servant leadership: Mediating role of knowledge sharing, thriving at work and burnout

Abstract

Today, innovation and its association with leadership are dubiously one of the key challenges faced by the Pakistani banking sector. However, lack of investigation on this issue has led to examining the effect of servant leadership in fostering employee creativity through the mediating role of knowledge sharing, thriving at work and burnout. Further, the study framework was established from theories, namely the social exchange theory, social learning theory and conservation of resource theory. The purposive sampling technique was used to gather 286 useable responses. Findings obtained by using Smart PLS-SEM 3.0 which indicated a significant positive relationship of servant leadership with knowledge sharing, thriving at work, and employee creativity. The results also enlighten the positive relationship of knowledge sharing and thriving at work on employee creativity, and the significant negative relationship of servant leadership on burnout. Whereas, knowledge sharing and thriving at work mediates the relationship between servant leadership and employee creativity. Captivatingly, burnout remains insignificant between servant leadership and employee creativity. Thus, the study findings will redound to organizational benefits by enriching research on the area of servant leadership, which is in its infancy till now. However, the study will be useful for both organizations and employees to achieve desired outcomes. Keywords: Servant leadership, knowledge sharing, thriving at work, burnout, employee creativity.

Impact of Perceived Organizational Support, Servant Leadership, Creative Self-Efficacy, and Conscientiousness on Job Boredom Via Job Crafting: A Study on Banking Sector of Pakistan

“…Past studies examined servant leadership with burnout, job satisfaction, and work engagement. (Bao, Li, & Zhao, 2018;Farrington & Lillah, 2019;Sheikh & Inam, 2019). However, few studies focused on examining the link of job crafting with boredom (Harju, Hakanen, & Schaufeli, 2016).…”

Linking servant leadership to followers' thriving at work: self-determination theory perspective

“…Secondly, servant leaders create better career development prospects for followers by offering guidance, feedback and work resources to create opportunities for followers to acquire new knowledge, and develop new skills and abilities (Walumbwa et al, 2010 ). They cultivate a collaborative and participative work environment where leaders and followers jointly tackle difficulties through continuous learning (Sheikh et al, 2019 ). Furthermore, servant leaders promote empowerment, innovation and future-oriented thinking, meanwhile, encouraging followers to find ways to enhance work performance (Chen et al, 2015 ; Walumbwa et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Although prior studies have evidenced the effectiveness of servant leadership in promoting followers' thriving at work (Walumbwa et al, 2018 ; Sheikh et al, 2019 ; Xu and Wang, 2020 ). However, limited research attention has been paid to the underlying psychological mechanisms through which servant leaders affect followers' thriving at work.…”

Does Servant Leadership Enhance Employee Creativity and Performance?

“…Servant leaders emphasize knowledge sharing among hospital personnel to improve employee creativity and work role performance (Nauman, Bhatti, Imam, & Khan, 2021). When employees share their expertise with their coworkers, they help spur the development of new ideas and, consequently, increase creativity inside the organization (Sheikh, Ishaq, & Inam, 2019). Employees with a strong sense of self-efficacy may exhibit higher levels of creativity, particularly if they will share their knowledge.…”