Relationship between Humble Leadership and Employee Innovation Behavior in Public Libraries in Hamadan Province: Explaining the Mediating Role of Positive Psychological Capital

Abstract                                                      Background and Objectives: As a bottom-up leadership style, leader humility has received considerable attention from researchers. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between humble leadership and employee innovation behavior with the emphasis on the mediating role of positive psychological capital among the employees of public libraries in Hamadan province, Iran.Methodology: The present study was descriptive and correlational. The total statistical population of this research involved ۱۸۷ employees of public libraries in Hamadan province, from which a sample size of ۱۲۳ people was selected using the simple random sampling based on the Morgan table. For collecting data, three standard questionnaires of innovation behavior, positive psychological capital and humble leadership were used. Besides, the proposed model was analyzed using structural equation modeling with Smart PLS۲ software.Findings: The results showed that our theoretical model can properly be used in the process of employee innovation behavior formation, and all the direct relations between variables in the model are significant. Furthermore, the results of modeling the structural equations showed that, in a humble leadership explaining ۸۳ percent of positive psychological capital, humble leadership accounts for ۷۸ percent of the employee innovation behavior; positive psychological capital clarifies ۱۷ percent of employee innovation behavior; and humble leadership explains ۱۵ percent of employee innovation behavior through positive psychological capital.Discussion: This study provided some insights for organizations in implementing humble leadership and motivating employee innovation behavior. Humility has been understood as the core trait of servant leadership, level-five leadership and participative leadership. However, humble leadership as a new type of independent leadership style has yet to be thoroughly investigated. By confirming the mediating role of PsyCap, the research further uncovers why followers under humble leader behaviors are more likely to engage in employee innovation behavior. Moreover, this study offers additional insight into the fact that followers may differ in the degree to which they are receptive to leader’s effect.

Relationship between Humble Leadership and Employee Innovation Behavior in Public Libraries in Hamadan Province: Explaining the Mediating Role of Positive Psychological Capital Keywords:

Employee innovation behavior , Humble Leadership , Positive Psychological Capital