Public Interest Statement

Authentic leadership is an approach that focuses on honest relationships between the leader and followers, where the leader allows honest input and feedback. This article addresses the concept of authentic leadership and how leaders may implement this style to be more productive.

Every individual capability and creativity is different and unique. Some may be more creative and some may be less. But a good leader or supervisor can influence the sub-ordinate or employee to work creatively. This particular article explains that how authenticity of a leader can play an important role in increasing employee creativity specifically in project-based organizations where meeting deadlines is a huge challenge. A sample of 246 employees from project-based organization was gathered, which was used to demonstrate the relationship that does exist between authentic leadership and employee creativity. The results showed positive and significant total effect of authentic leadership on employee creativity. Additionally, the impact of work engagement and psychological empowerment on this relationship was explored. Work engagement was mediating between authentic leadership and employee creativity. While psychological empowerment acted as a partial mediator. The results may help project-based organizations to take initiatives to increase authenticity in leaders and creativity in employees.

© Saylor University 2010-2026 except as otherwise noted. Excluding course final exams, content authored by Saylor University is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Third-party materials are the copyright of their respective owners and shared under various licenses. See detailed licensing information. Saylor University®, Saylor.org®, and Harnessing Technology to Make Education Free® are trade names of the Constitution Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization through which our educational activities are conducted.