Coaching Leadership and Employees’ Bootlegging Innovation Behavior in Chinese High-Tech Enterprises

This study investigates the psychological mechanisms through which coaching leadership influences employees’ bootlegging innovation behavior. Drawing on leadership and organizational behavior theories, we propose a serial mediation model in which work meaning and organizational psychological ownership jointly transmit the effects of coaching leadership on employees’ informal innovative behavior. Using survey data collected from 427 employees, the results demonstrate that coaching leadership positively predicts bootlegging innovation behavior. Moreover, both work meaning and organizational psychological ownership independently mediate this relationship. Importantly, the findings further support a sequential mediation pathway, indicating that coaching leadership enhances employees’ perceptions of work meaning, which subsequently fosters stronger organizational psychological ownership and, in turn, stimulates bootlegging innovation behavior. By elucidating the intertwined motivational and ownership-based psychological processes underlying informal innovation, this study advances the literature on coaching leadership and employee-driven innovation. The findings also offer practical insights for managers seeking to cultivate grassroots innovation by fostering meaningful work experiences and a sense of psychological ownership among employees.