Growth need strength promotes employee creativity through work reflection with visionary leadership as a moderator

Employee creativity is crucial for organizations to maintain competitiveness. Although existing research has explored the relationship between employees' growth need strength and creativity, the underlying connection between the two remains unclear. Based on trait activation theory, this study examines how visionary leadership, as an environmental cue, activates employees' growth need strength, thereby promoting work reflection and creativity. Data were collected from 516 full-time employees across 111 teams using a three-phase, time-lagged design. Multilevel path analysis and Monte Carlo simulations were used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that employees' growth need strength is positively related to creativity. Work reflection mediates the relationship between growth need strength and creativity. Visionary leadership strengthens the positive relationship between employees' growth need strength and work reflection. Visionary leadership also moderates the mediating role of work reflection in the relationship between employees' growth need strength and creativity. These findings contribute to the employee creativity literature by highlighting work reflection as an important mechanism and visionary leadership as a key contextual condition through which growth need strength promotes creativity.