Nan Li
Purpose Although inclusive leadership is regarded as a key factor in stimulating employee innovation, its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to reveal the chain mediation pathway through which inclusive leadership indirectly influences employee innovation through error management climate and psychological empowerment. Design/methodology/approach A 3-wave follow-up survey was conducted among 637 employees from 11 high-tech companies in China. They were asked to complete a questionnaire covering inclusive leadership, employee innovation behavior, error management climate and psychological empowerment. The data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS software, including confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis and bootstrapping methods. Findings Research findings indicate that inclusive leadership has a significant positive direct impact on employee innovation behavior and also indirectly promotes innovation behavior by fostering a positive error management climate and enhancing employee psychological empowerment. Additionally, the error management climate could stimulate employee innovation behavior by increasing their sense of psychological empowerment. Originality/value This study integrates social information processing theory with self-determination theory to reveal the mechanism through which inclusive leadership fosters innovation by promoting an error management climate and psychological empowerment. It provides empirical evidence for the synergistic relationship between organizational climate and psychological states in driving innovation, demonstrating how external environmental factors interact with internal motivational mechanisms. These findings offer a comprehensive theoretical framework and practical pathway for organizations to systematically enhance innovation capabilities through leadership development, climate shaping and psychological empowerment.