Inclusive Leadership and Sports Performance: The Mediating Roles of Innovative Work Behavior and Psychological Safety Among National Players in Pakistan

Study aims to investigate the impact of inclusive leadership on sports performance with the mediation of innovative work behaviour and psychological safety. Inclusive leadership has been identified as an important element that increases sports performance with the mediating effects of innovative work behaviour and psychological safety. Inclusive leadership reinforces to employees’ psychological safety and freedom of expression to achieve sports performance through innovative work behaviour. Literature review revealed that the relationship between inclusive leadership and performance has been investigated with the various other mediating variables in the fields of banks, education, and health sectors. However, its exploration in the field of sports industry has not yet been explored to find the effect of inclusive leadership on sports performance with the mediating effects of innovative work behaviour and psychological safety. Study opted snowball sampling and data was collected from 385 sports players of national level playing under the patronage of Pakistan sports industry comprising of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Hypotheses of the study were formulated after identifying research objectives and questions of the study. Social Exchange Theory (SET) was used to investigate the impact of inclusive leadership in increasing sports performance through innovative work behaviour and psychological safety. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used for multivariate statistical analysis to examine structural relationships. Smart PLS was used for evaluating validity and the reliability of the data. Variance-based Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was assessed using the partial least squares path modeling method. Results and outcomes of the study contribute to enhance the sports performance at national and international competitions and provide guidelines to formulate policies for improving performance of the Pakistan sports industry. Study was restricted to Pakistan sports industry with cross sectional time horizon, whereas other industries may also be researched with the same variables and longitudinal time horizon.