Unlocking creativity in tech: How resonant leadership fuels creative performance through knowledge sharing in Indian IT firms

Abstract

This paper presents a model examining how resonant leadership (RL) influences creative performance (CP) in the rapidly evolving Indian IT sector. It specifically investigates how tacit knowledge sharing (TKS)—the informal, experience-based knowledge sharing and explicit knowledge sharing (EKS) mediate this relationship, alongside the role of knowledge reciprocity (KR) in linking RL with both types of knowledge sharing. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 387 middle-level managers from various Indian IT firms using an online questionnaire, with data analyzed via the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method. The findings reveal significant positive influences of RL on TKS, EKS, KR, and CP. Additionally, TKS was found to partially mediate the relationship between RL and CP, while KR partially mediated the relationship between RL and both forms of knowledge sharing. These results provide actionable insights for executives and practitioners, emphasizing the implementation of resonant leadership and reciprocal knowledge sharing strategies to enhance creativity and performance in the Indian IT sector. This study contributes to existing literature by delineating the impacts of RL on KR, TKS, EKS, and CP, and explores multiple mediating relationships among these variables within the framework of social exchange theory.