This study aims to examine a process model linking leaders' intellectual stimulation, a contextual resource, to task performance through employee mindsets and proactive behaviors. We propose a sequential mediation model, where leaders' intellectual stimulation is linked to daily employee performance through employees' growth mindset (GM) and daily strengths use (SU) as cognitive and behavioral strategies, respectively.
We applied multilevel structural equation modeling to survey data collected from 209 employees over 12 days, resulting in 2,223 daily responses.
The results indicate that leaders' intellectual stimulation, as contextual resources, predicted a stronger employee GM. In turn, GM predicted employees' SU. Notably, when employees proactively utilized their strengths to accomplish tasks, they reported higher performance levels.
From a practical perspective, leaders' intellectual stimulation can facilitate proactive SU and performance by building or encouraging a growth-oriented mindset.
These findings support a novel, parsimonious model grounded in positive psychology, offering more profound insight into how leader–follower interactions shape employees' day-to-day SU and performance.
