Principal platform leadership inspires teachers’ breakthrough innovation: cognitive–affective processing system perspective

Teachers’ radical innovative behaviors are crucial for educational systems navigating technological disruptions and sustaining competitiveness in the digital era. Although prior research has examined the impact of leadership on employee innovation, the mechanisms linking principal platform leadership to teachers’ breakthrough innovation remain underexplored. Drawing on the cognitive–affective processing system framework, this study investigates how principal platform leadership influences teachers’ breakthrough pedagogical innovation. Using multi-wave data from 295 primary and secondary school teachers in China, structural equation modeling reveals that principal platform leadership positively predicts teachers’ radical innovative behaviors. Organization-based self-esteem and harmonious innovation passion sequentially mediate this relationship, with additional independent mediating effects for each. Moreover, error aversion culture attenuates the direct effect of principal platform leadership on breakthrough innovation and significantly moderates its mediating pathway. These findings advance leadership theory by elucidating the dual cognitive–affective mechanisms underlying educational innovation, while offering practical insights for fostering supportive organizational climates that encourage breakthrough-oriented practices.