Leadership, Creativity and Routine in Small Businesses Experiencing Hyper-Growth

Building on the literature about high-growth firms, leadership, creativity, and routine, this paper examines the role of leadership in the emergence and maintenance of hypergrowth. Three propositions are put forward: (i) the leader’s traits play a central role in the growth process; (ii) the leader uses two styles of leadership; and (iii) the leader balances creativity and routine to maintain hypergrowth. Content analysis is carried out with forty-two interviews with TMT members of hypergrowth small businesses. Findings suggest that creativity and routine are closely intertwined in leaders’ minds and behaviors. Both transformational and transactional leadership styles are mobilized by leaders to promote phases of creativity and phases of routine, in order to maintain growth.