Self-sacrificial leadership and employee creativity: The mediating role of psychological safety

Previous research has revealed the importance of leadership in promoting employee creativity. However, the mechanism by which self-sacrificial leadership facilitates employee creativity is not well understood. We proposed a model explaining why self-sacrificial leadership may enhance employee creativity, which we tested with data from 206 part-time Master of Business Administration students and their supervisors at two Chinese universities. Results of structural equation modeling analysis show that self-sacrificial leadership had a positive relationship with employee creativity, both directly and also indirectly through the mediator of psychological safety. These findings shed light on how self-sacrificial leadership helps to enhance employee creativity. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.