Abstract

The leadership role remains an area that requires more attention in the domain of creative performance. Drawing on social learning theory, the study tested the direct effect of a leader’s grit on creative performance and learning agility, and learning agility on employee creative performance. Additionally, explored the underlying mechanism of learning agility between gritty leadership and employee creative performance. A time-lagged survey of hotel employees (n=247) was conducted. SPSS software was utilized for descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. Theoretical model has been investigated and tested by using structural equation modeling (SEM). Confirmatory factory analysis (CFA) and hypotheses testing were done by utilizing SmartPLS4. The study findings showed that gritty leadership is positively related to creative performance and learning agility. Furthermore, learning agility positively influences employee creative performance. The results also revealed that learning agility mediates the relationship between gritty leadership and employee creative performance. This study expands on the importance of leadership by assessing the underlying mechanism. Managers in the hospitality sector should adopt this leadership style to promote employee learning agility, which may ensure creativity in the performance of employees. The study limitations and future research directions are also discussed.
Keywords: Gritty Leadership; Learning Agility; Creative Performance; Hospitality Industry