This case study explored the role leaders play in supporting organizational innovation. It used Senge, Kliner, Roberts, Ross, Roth, and Smith's (1999) taxonomy of leadership which articulated three distinct leadership roles: executive leaders, network leaders, and line leaders. The case consisted of Commerce Bank, a regional financial institution based in Cherry Hill, NJ. Commerce Bank was a Fortune 500 company that serves the markets of New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Delaware, Metro - Washington DC, and South Florida. This study addressed four research questions, which included: (a) How do leaders support organizational innovation; (b) What are the underlying assumptions that leaders hold about innovation; (c) What tools do leaders use to foster and support organizational innovation; (d) How do leaders and the organization deal with failed innovation?;Data collected for this case study consisted of six interviews, field visits to eight Commerce Bank locations, attendance at the company's eight-hour employee training, and documents internal and external to the organization. Interview participants consisted of one executive leader, two network leaders, and three line leaders. The interviews were transcribed and then analyzed with the assistance of NVivo 7 by QSR international.;The results of this study suggest, in the case of Commerce Bank, that the organization is able to foster organizational innovation by (a) understanding value and (b) attending to the organization. Leaders at Commerce Bank had a clear understanding of what provided value for their customers. Understanding this value ensured that they innovated in a manner that was consistent with what their customers valued. Leaders at Commerce Bank also attended to the organization, which included (a) the people, (b) organizational processes and environment, and (c) the culture. The study also found that participant's perspective of innovation was shaped by their leadership role. This perspective ranged from pragmatic at one end to strategic on the other. The term innovation perspective was used to describe the variation in how participants experienced innovation. The findings also suggested that leaders throughout Commerce Bank use a variety of tools to foster organizational innovation. Finally, this dissertation validated the theoretical propositions that argue innovation is about delivering value.
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