Flowing forward: humble leadership and employee innovation in water-conscious hotels

Purpose This paper aims to address a critical gap in the organizational literature by exploring how humble leadership affects employee innovative behavior in water-conscious hotel settings. Grounded in social exchange theory (SET), this paper posits that leader–member exchange (LMX) mediates this relationship, with organizational pride acting as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 315 hotel frontline employees working under water-conservation constraints in Egypt was used to collect data. Hypothesized relationships were tested using hierarchical multiple regression and PROCESS macro analyses. Findings Humble leadership improves LMX quality, which promotes employee innovative behavior. Further, LMX partially mediates the relationship between humble leadership and employee innovative behavior. Organizational pride also strengthened the indirect effect, underscoring its role as a critical boundary condition in sustainability-driven service settings. Practical implications Results highlight the importance of a humble leadership style that fosters trust and openness, reinforcing the relational and affective processes that drive eco-innovation in hospitality settings with limited resources. Originality/value This paper contributes to SET and hospitality leadership literature by presenting a moderated-mediation model that clarifies how humble leadership, LMX, and organizational pride shape innovative behavior in sustainability-oriented hotels.