Authentic Leadership and Innovation: The Mediating Role of Affective and Cognitive Integration, and Engagement in Work Teams

This study explores the relationship between authentic leadership and innovation at the team level of analysis. The proposed research model outlines the intervention of three mediating variables: cognitive integration, affective integration, and work engagement. Data were collected from 32 organizations (132 teams) ascribed to the so-called digital ecosystem, an organizational context in which the needs for authentic leadership and innovation seem to be integral to the firm's performance to succeed in the marketplace. The research supported the presence of a positive relationship between authentic leadership and innovation in work teams. Additionally, affective integration and engagement were found to mediate the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables. Cognitive integration, however, did not manifest any mediating effect. Theoretically, these findings support the consideration of authentic leadership as a job resource that is able to enhance the organizational outcomes, according to the Job Demand and Resources Model.