How leader bottom-line mentality impedes employee innovative behavior: a Pygmalion effect perspective

Purpose The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between leader bottom-line mentality (BLM) and employee innovative behavior, which may be interpreted by employees’ perceived creativity expectations and moderated by employee time orientation. Design/methodology/approach A multi-wave and multi-source questionnaire survey with 259 paired Chinese employee–leader dyads provided data to test the theoretical model. Hypotheses were tested with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings Consistent with hypotheses, leader BLM reduces employees’ perceived creativity expectations and thus inhibits employees’ innovative behavior, and this effect is stronger for employees with short-term orientation. Practical implications Our findings highlight the negative influences of leader BLM on innovative behavior and the buffering role of employees’ long-term orientation. Organizations may incorporate BLM in leadership promotion and evaluation and provide corresponding training for leaders to overcome BLM. In addition, long-term orientation can be a valuable indicator in employee recruitment and selection. Originality/value This study contributes to a new theoretical perspective of the Pygmalion effects for understanding leader BLM’s influence on employee innovative behavior.