The Impact of Creative Leadership on Enhancing Municipal Service Efficiency: A Mixed Methods Study

¹ Department of Financial and Banking Sciences-College of Islamic Sciences, University of Samarra, Iraq.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, JSPM Narhe Technical Campus, Pune, India.

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published online: 1 July 2026

Abstract

The rising demands for transparency, accountability, and effectiveness call for a rethinking of old managerial styles by means of municipal institutions. Therefore, this study assesses the effect of creative leadership on the improved efficiency of municipal services via a mixed-method layout that integrates quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews. The survey yielded 78 legitimate responses (34.7% of the 225 questionnaires distributed) from personnel, officials, and residents in municipalities within Iraq’s Salah al-Din governorate; effects indicated a really fine correlation (r=0.83) between creative leadership and service efficiency. In my view, regression evaluation confirms that creative leadership explains approximately 70% of the variation in efficiency (R₂=0.70). Flexibility and innovation had been the 2 only leadership traits. However, due to its scope being restrained to one place, it is most effective and should be generalized with caution. The qualitative findings put forward principal impediments to creative leadership, namely bureaucratic pressure and the inadequately skilled human resources, while additionally highlighting enablers consisting of selection-making participation and motivational guidance. Take a look at the discovery that selling creative leadership underneath institutional reform and worker development will substantially improve the performance of municipal offerings. These findings add to the prevailing literature on public zone leadership at the same time as giving real-life training on how to make nearby governments green through innovation.