Enhancing Employee Creativity: The Influence of Dual-Focused Transformational Leadership on Skill Development and Knowledge Sharing

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Enhancing employee creativity via individual skill development and team
knowledge sharing: Influences of dual‐focused transformational leadership
Article in Journal of Organizational Behavior · September 2016
DOI: 10.1002/job.2134
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Enhancing employee creativity via individual skill
development and team knowledge sharing:
Influences of dual-focused transformational
leadership
YUNTAO DONG 1
*, KATHRYN M. BARTOL2
, ZHI-XUE ZHANG 3 AND CHENWEI LI 4†
1University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, U.S.A.
2University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.
3Peking University, Beijing, China
4San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Summary Addressing the challenges faced by team leaders in fostering both individual and team creativity, this research
developed and tested a multilevel model connecting dual-focused transformational leadership (TFL) and
creativity and incorporating intervening mechanisms at the two levels. Using multilevel, multisource survey
data from individual members, team leaders, and direct supervisors in high-technology firms, we found that
individual-focused TFL had a positive indirect effect on individual creativity via individual skill develop-
ment, whereas team-focused TFL impacted team creativity partially through its influence on team knowledge
sharing. We also found that knowledge sharing constituted a cross-level contextual factor that moderated the
relationship among individual-focused TFL, skill development, and individual creativity. We discuss the
theoretical and practical implications of this research and offer suggestions for future research. Copyright
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Keywords: transformational leadership; employee creativity; skill development; knowledge sharing;
multilevel
Employee creativity, defined as the generation of novel and useful ideas (Amabile, 1988; Zhou & Shalley, 2003), is
critical to organizational survival and effectiveness. There has been increasing research interest in examining what
leaders might do to encourage the production of creative outcomes (Anderson, Potočnik, & Zhou, 2014). For leaders
of teams, in particular, this can present a special challenge. On the one hand, ideas are ultimately offered up by
individuals, and hence, it is useful for leaders to develop individuals' knowledge and skills needed for creativity.
On the other hand, related research suggests that team creativity is more than the sum of its individual parts and
requires the exchange of knowledge among team members. Emphasizing promoting individuals' development (Dvir,
Eden, Avolio, & Shamir, 2002) while encouraging collective contribution (Eisenbeiss, Van Knippenberg, &
Boerner, 2008), transformational leadership (TFL) is particularly well suited to set in motion appropriate processes
at both the individual and team levels to handle this dual challenge.
Yet, in a recent meta-analysis, Rosing, Frese, and Bausch (2011) have pointed to inconsistencies in the research
on TFL–creativity relationship and suggested that the high degree of variation found in the relationship may be due
to the lack of clarification of the levels of analyses. In fact, recent theoretical advancements regarding TFL posit that
effective transformational leaders have different emphases when managing individuals and teams (Li, Mitchell, &
Boyle, 2016; Li, Shang, Liu, & Xi, 2014; Wang & Howell, 2010; Wu, Tsui, & Kinicki, 2010), with some behaviors
*Correspondence to: Yuntao Dong, University of Connecticut, 2100 Hillside Road, Unit 1041, Storrs, CT 06269, U.S.A. E-mail: yuntao.
[e-mail]
†This research was initiated when Professor Chenwei Li was at Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.A.
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Received 28 May 2015
Revised 30 July 2016, Accepted 10 August 2016
Journal of Organizational Behavior, J. Organiz. Behav. (2016)
Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/job.2134
Research Article

most meaningfully targeted at individuals (individual-focused TFL) and other behaviors more properly directed to
the team (team-focused TFL). Thus, the dual-focused conceptualization of TFL may have the potential to advance
creativity research. Li et al. (2016) have made a first attempt to adopt dual-focused TFL in this realm by aiming to
predict innovation in teams. However, there is widespread recognition that innovation encompasses both idea
generation (creativity) and implementation, which are increasingly viewed as involving substantially different
dynamics and mechanisms (Anderson et al., 2014; Rosing et al., 2011). Hence, in this study, we focus squarely
on multilevel associations between dual-focused TFL and creativity.
Although TFL is recognized as an influential enabler for creativity, there have been diverse and mixed views on
what pathways a leader may take to affect individual and team creativity. One major line of research has pointed to
the role of the leader as a facilitator of follower creativity (Mainemelis, Kark, & Epitropaki, 2015). Here, we extend
that research stream by exploring the possibility that dual-focused TFL increases the prospect that the followers
themselves can step up to the creativity requirements of the job, while also stimulating the team toward greater
creativity production. Specifically, individual-focused TFL tends to “stimulate individuals to develop their own
skills” (Li et al., 2016, p. 4), while team-focused TFL motivates team members to offer information out of intentions
to benefit the collective (Zhang, Tsui, & Wang, 2011) and enables “transmission and sharing of knowledge”
(García-Morales, Lloréns-Montes, & Verdú-Jover, 2008, p. 300). Enhanced individual skills and knowledge sharing
may, in turn, help the individual and the group, respectively, enact their creative potential. Hence, individual skill
development and team knowledge sharing may be important mechanisms linking dual-focused TFL and creativity.
However, research has yet to examine these mechanisms simultaneously under a dual-focused framework. Ques-
tions remain regarding how dual-focused TFL may uniquely and synergistically impact individual and team creativ-
ity. This is important because, as Gong, Kim, Lee, and Zhu (2013, p. 844) have noted, “individuals must be brought
back into the study of team creativity” as team creativity depends on the foundational individual capability to
generate ideas. At the same time, as Gilson, Lim, Luciano, and Choi (2013) have claimed, individual development
and creativity are constantly shaped by team knowledge exchange. These arguments highlight the potential advan-
tages of integrating dual-focused TFL and creativity and the associated mechanisms in a multilevel framework.
Accordingly, we propose and test a theoretical model that examines how dual-focused TFL may influence
individual and team creativity via separate channels. Integrating the dual-focused TFL perspective and creativity
literature, we consider skill development at the individual level and knowledge sharing at the team level as the
mediating mechanisms. Further, in view of calls for understanding how the multilevel mediators of TFL may interact
with each other (Van Knippenberg & Sitkin, 2013), we investigate the cross-level influence of team knowledge
sharing on the individual-level relationships.
We aim to make three significant contributions. First, we examine the differential impacts of individual-focused and
team-focused TFL on creativity, demonstrating the utility of dual-focused TFL in the creativity realm. Second, by iden-
tifying individual skill development and team knowledge sharing as influence channels of individual-focused and
team-focused TFL, our study addresses the need for research on level-specific mechanisms that connect TFL to creativ-
ity (Van Knippenberg & Sitkin, 2013) and contributes to the broader literature on creative leadership with regard to the
different means through which a leader may facilitate multilevel creativity (Mainemelis et al., 2015). Third, by
simultaneously examining the multilevel mediators, we are able to provide insights regarding the cross-level effects
on individual creativity while bringing a conceptual and empirical integration to “findings related to the differentiated
effects of team dynamics and individual contributions” on employee creativity (Li et al., 2016, p. 2).
Theory and Hypotheses
In this section, we trace the development of our model by first explicating a dual-focused conceptualization of TFL.
We next examine the mediating relationships explaining how individual-focused TFL boosts employee creativity via
enhancing individual skill development and how team-focused TFL fosters team creativity via promoting team
Y. DONG ET AL.
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2016)
DOI: 10.1002/job

members' knowledge sharing. Finally, we discuss the cross-level moderating effect of team knowledge sharing on
individual creativity. The hypothesized model is depicted in Figure 1.
Dual-focused transformational leadership
Historically, the conceptualization of TFL has not been clear about the levels of analyses and research has measured
TFL by using mixed referents (Van Knippenberg & Sitkin, 2013). Yet, a number of researchers have noted the pos-
sibility that TFL could operate at both individual and team levels. For example, Kark and Shamir (2002) viewed
TFL as a multifaceted and complex form of leadership that may function at multiple levels. Wu et al. (2010) claimed
that TFL behaviors could have either an individual focus that addresses the needs of each team member or a group
focus that influences a team as a whole. Consistent with these viewpoints, Wang and Howell (2010) proposed a
dual-focused model of TFL and identified specific leader behaviors that are better suited for consideration at the
individual level or at the team level.
Drawing on related prior research, we point out that the foundational logic underlying the differentiation of
individual-focused and team-focused TFL is that motivating individuals and teams requires different emphases
and varied behaviors from the leader. Specifically, following Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Moorman, and Fetter
(1990), Wu et al. (2010), and Wang and Howell's (2010) work, we conceptualize individual-focused TFL as leaders
emphasizing the uniqueness of each individual member by paying close attention to individuals' needs, intellectually
challenging them, and expressing high expectations for personal development and excellence. As Wu et al. (2010)
suggested, individual-focused leaders “consider subordinates' unique capabilities and characteristics” because
“abilities and intelligence vary among individuals” (p. 93). Individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation,
and performance expectations may be customized for different individuals and may not be shared by all team
members. Hence, these behaviors focus more on individuals than on collective interests and are mainly targeted
at individuals. Consequently, they tend to shape individual outcomes in ways that are germane to specific
employees.
On the other hand, we define team-focused TFL as leaders emphasizing common grounds, shared values, and
ideology among team members by articulating a compelling vision, constituting a role model for the team, and
fostering acceptance of collective goals. These behaviors are more appropriately conceptualized at the team level
than at the individual level because they tone down individual differences and serve as “ambient stimulus” that lead
followers to prioritize collective interests (Chen, Farh, Campbell, Wu, & Wu, 2013). As a result, team-focused TFL
tends to exert influence on a group as a whole. It is worth noting that the differentiation between individual-focused
and team-focused TFL does not mean that one set of behaviors can only occur at its designated level; rather, the
Figure 1. Theoretical model of dual-focused TFL and individual and team creativity
INFLUENCES OF DUAL-FOCUSED TFL ON CREATIVITY
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2016)
DOI: 10.1002/job

conceptualization points out that some behaviors are conceptually more functional and more likely to operate at a
certain level than at the other level.
Impacts of individual-focused TFL on creativity via individual skill development
Creativity theories suggest that effective leadership can serve as an enabler that helps individuals acquire task-related
knowledge and skills, which are a key component for creating new ideas or products (Amabile, 1988; Anderson et al.,
2014). This view is supported by studies from related fields. For example, in considering creativity as a specific form
of proactivity, Parker and Wu (2014, p. 393) proposed that “leaders can influence the proactivity of their team members
through fostering the development of knowledge, skills, and abilities.” Further, the developmental notion is core to
individual-focused TFL, given its emphasis on mentoring, coaching, and challenging individual followers based on
their needs and abilities. As such, follower development constitutes a principal influence process through which
individual-focused TFL may foster individual creativity. We define individual skill development as one's active engage-
ment in developmental activities in order to obtain work-related knowledge and skills to facilitate long-term competency
acquisition and enhancement related to one's work (Noe, 1996; Pulakos, Arad, Donovan, & Plamondon, 2000).
Relevant evidence suggests that individual-focused TFL can influence follower development by communicating
high expectations for excellence and superior performance to stimulate followers' intrinsic needs for growth (Bass &
Avolio, 1994; Wang & Howell, 2010). Consequently, followers will more actively participate in development activ-
ities. For example, Dvir et al. (2002) found that transformational leaders motivate followers to exert extra effort to
satisfy their own self-actualization needs. In addition, through intellectual stimulation, transformational leaders can
encourage followers to challenge traditions and to think about problems from different perspectives, all of which
require followers to master new skills and to shift viewpoints via continuous development (Shin & Zhou, 2003).
Finally, transformational leaders emphasize individualized consideration, provide support, and show respect for
individuals' needs for development. Along these lines, Maurer and colleagues (Maurer & Tarulli, 1994; Maurer,
Weiss, & Barbeite, 2003) found that supervisor support for development was positively related to subordinates'
intention to participate in development activities as well as subsequent actual participation (e.g., attending courses,
reading journals, or initiating new projects). Taken together, we expect individual-focused TFL to motivate individ-
ual followers to actively engage in skill development.
Hypothesis 1: Individual-focused TFL is positively related to individual skill development.
Creativity scholars (e.g., Amabile, 1988) have posited that the extent to which individuals develop their
knowledge and skills in a given area of interest is one of “the major influences on output of creative ideas” (p. 128)
and is “necessary for ... creativity to be produced” (p. 137). These skills comprise fundamental resources for individ-
uals to put existing information and newly generated ideas together in novel combinations (Anderson et al., 2014). In
other words, factual knowledge, technical skills, and work experience in the domain of interest allow an individual to
understand complexities and generate a set of response possibilities from which new responses can be synthesized. The
larger the set of possibilities, the more numerous the alternatives available for producing something new. Accordingly,
individuals who engage in skill development are more likely to have an increased range and depth of knowledge and
more developed skills, providing them the basis for critical thinking that is needed to creatively solve problems and
improve current processes (Zhang & Bartol, 2010). Woodman, Sawyer, and Griffin (1993, p. 301) quoted a relevant
insight: “Invention is little more than a new combination of those images, which have been previously gathered and
deposited in the memory. Nothing can be made of nothing. He who has laid up no material can produce no
combination” (quoted in Offner, 1990).
Supporting these arguments, Chen, Shih, and Yeh (2011) showed that individual possession of different skill sets
was critical for public sector employees to connect different disciplines of knowledge and engage in the divergent
thinking that is crucial for creativity. Similarly, Yang, Lee, and Cheng (2016) provided some relevant evidence
Y. DONG ET AL.
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2016)
DOI: 10.1002/job

by showing that frontline bank tellers who possessed more knowledge and skills were likely to engage in creative
thinking and identify new opportunities in the service realm. Finally, Choi (2004) found that creative ability, which
refers to skills or competencies relevant to creative performance, such as the ability to look at problems from novel
perspectives, was significantly related to individual creativity. Taken together, our theorizing and the evidence
suggest that individual-focused TFL may enhance follower creativity because it is associated with knowledge and
skill acquisition, a major predictor of individual creative performance.
Hypothesis 2: Individual skill development mediates the relationship between individual-focused TFL and
individual creativity.
Impacts of team-focused TFL on team creativity as mediated by knowledge sharing
Enhancing team creativity requires leaders not only to develop creative individuals but also to promote intra-team
communication and information exchange (Hargadon & Bechky, 2006). As Taggar (2002) has pointed out, teams
should reach a higher level of creativity when they contain both creative members and effective processes by which
members can collectively approach and utilize knowledge available within the team. Due to its emphasis on shared
vision and collective goals, team-focused TFL may be particularly effective in involving team members in
knowledge sharing activities, which, in turn, help the team enact its creative potential. We define team knowledge
sharing as the extent to which team members share task-relevant ideas, information, and suggestions with each other
(Srivastava, Bartol, & Locke, 2006).
By communicating and promoting collective vision and values, team-focused transformational leaders help team
members understand that individual inputs of useful knowledge and information are valuable to team goal
accomplishment. As a result, team members are likely to feel more inclined to engage in such efforts as offering
constructive suggestions and sharing unique information so as to contribute to the achievement of mutual goals
(Eisenbeiss et al., 2008). Moreover, by providing an appropriate role model and facilitating team acceptance of
collective objectives, team-focused TFL may shape a deeper understanding and appreciation of contributions from
all members (Li et al., 2014; Shin, Kim, Lee, & Bian, 2012). As team members feel that their inputs are valued, they
are willing to take the opportunity to share their knowledge (Detert & Burris, 2007). In sampling research and
development (R&D) teams in a multinational pharmaceutical company, Kearney and Gebert (2009) found that
TFL was effective in fostering the exchange and elaboration of task-relevant information when the teams consist
of specialized members. Consistently, Li et al. (2014) found that group-focused leadership increased individual
members' knowledge-providing and knowledge-collecting behaviors. Based on these arguments, we hypothesize a
positive impact of team-focused TFL on team knowledge sharing.
Hypothesis 3: Team-focused TFL is positively related to team knowledge sharing.
The positive impact of team knowledge sharing on team creativity is consistent with the suggestion that the
communication of individual knowledge in a team is a viable resource for the team to generate new ideas (Gong
et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2011). In line with previous research (e.g., Gino, Argote, Miron-Spektor, & Todorova,
2010; Hülsheger, Anderson, & Salgado, 2009), we refer to team creativity as the combination of newness and
usefulness of ideas that are developed by the team. Team creativity is not simply the aggregation of ideas generated
by individual members; rather, it involves team members collectively processing information, considering disparate
views, and eventually producing creative outcomes.
Specifically, because exchange of diverse information helps in boosting the repository of available expertise,
skills, and knowledge in the team, it enables the team to utilize and integrate the resources to accomplish complex
tasks, such as those of developing new products or procedures (Gardner, Gino, & Staats, 2012). For example, Sung
and Choi (2012) argued that a greater team knowledge stock offers more opportunities to recombine existing
INFLUENCES OF DUAL-FOCUSED TFL ON CREATIVITY
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2016)
DOI: 10.1002/job