Innovation has become paramount for organizations surviving in today’s competitive environment. However, employees often exhibit reluctance when it comes to engaging in innovative behaviors. Transformational leadership is recognized as an effective leadership style for stimulating employees’ innovative behavior in Western countries, but limited research examines its effectiveness in Hong Kong and China’s working context. Therefore, in this research, I aim to explore the perspectives of Chinese graduate students on transformational leadership impact on innovative behavior. To achieve this objective, I adopted an action research methodology with data collected from five Chinese graduate students to gather their perspectives and personal experiences of the four characteristics of transformational leadership and four mediating factors contributing to innovative behavior. The study’s findings indicated transformational leadership not only directly fosters innovative behaviors but also operates through mediating factors, including autonomy and empowerment, management support for innovation, work engagement, and the organizational culture of knowledge sharing and group openness. The results of this study shed light on the relationship between transformational leadership, innovative behaviors, and significant mediating factors within the Chinese organizational context. Furthermore, the insights gained from this study recommend a basis for future empirical research and practical implications for leaders and human resources specialists seeking to promote innovation within their organizations.
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