Principals’ secure base leadership and teachers’ innovative behavior: A moderated mediation model

Despite growing interest in employee innovation, the relationship between principals’ secure base leadership and teachers’ innovative behavior remains largely unexplored. To address this gap, I conducted a time-lagged study to examine the associations between secure base leadership, innovative behavior, and affective commitment, and the moderating effect of proactive personality levels. Participants comprised 277 primary and secondary school teacher–principal dyads in China, who completed on-site surveys at three time points. My results revealed that principals’ secure base leadership positively influenced teachers’ innovative behavior through affective commitment as a partial mediator. Further, proactive personality enhanced the effectiveness of this leadership style. These findings expand research on promoting teacher innovation, enhance understanding of the connection between secure base leadership and extrarole behavior, and provide implications for educational management.