Spiritual leadership and innovative work behavior: the mediated relationship of interpersonal trust and knowledge sharing in the hospitality sector of India

PurposeThe paper aims to explore the relationship between spiritual leadership and employees' innovative behavior in the hospitality sector of India. The author proposes a holistic (serial mediation) model based on relational signaling theory (RST) and integrates individual, i.e. interpersonal trust and knowledge sharing factors as explanatory mechanisms.Design/methodology/approachThe study is conducted through probability sampling on 435 participants working in the hospitality sector of India. The proposed serial mediation model was examined using a structural equation modeling (SEM) method and the PROCESS model 6.FindingsThe result supports the full mediation model. Although spiritual leadership and innovative work behavior (IWB) had a little direct impact, they had considerable overall effects and indirect effects due to interpersonal trust and knowledge sharing. Similar to this, the study discovered evidence in favor of individual characteristics serving as explanatory mechanisms in the connection between spiritual leadership and IWB.Originality/valueBased on the RST, the study reveals that spiritual leaders motivate and inspire employees by involving the application of spiritual values and principles which help them in generating trust and share knowledge, leading to innovative behavior.