Leading for Innovation: A Case Study of Financial Services Organization in Sri Lanka

Leadership is a crucial determinant of Innovative Work Behavior (IWB) of employees in an organization. Many researchers have found the linkage of the leadership and IWB in various industries, yet very little attention has been paid on the financial services sector, particularly in Sri Lanka [1]. Hence, this study intends to examine how leadership affects employees’ IWB in the financial services sector in Sri Lanka. It is a qualitative study, which adopted a case study approach. The study used a purposive sample of 10 innovative employees in the organization, based on the recommendation of the management and in-depth face to face interviews were carried out with those employees. A thematic analysis was employed for data analysis. The findings of the study were the characteristics of transformational leadership predominantly made impact on promoting IWB among the employees in the chosen financial services organization. Further, IWB of the employees are encouraged if the leader provides more autonomy, resources, constructive feedback, recognition to the employees and the leader being a role model for the employees. The implications of the study suggests insights to the organizational leadership to foster IWB among the employees.