Autonomy Support: Explaining the Path from Leadership to Employee Creative Performance

Abstract

Today leaders are more like employee supporters than employee supervisors. Creating intentionally supportive and motivating environment, demonstrating concern for employees’ well being, providing opportunities for autonomy support, avoiding rewards that actually decrease motivation and performance in the workplace for employee to be creative and innovative is part of modern leadership. The aim of the present paper is to provide a deeper understanding of how autonomy-supportive leadership fosters positive employee outcomes by taking employee innate needs into consideration. For this purpose, self-determination theory (SDT) fits best for its consideration of both social context (i.e., autonomy-supportive leadership) and individuals’ basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) as antecedents of motivation and well-being. In addition, we will give leaders some implications and discuss the importance of providing autonomy support, making sure of having the supportive environments required, and explain a clear path from leadership to employee positive behavior.

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