In a time of rapid technological change, enhancing technical workers’ taking charge behavior is critical for improving organizational competitiveness and sustainability. Drawing on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, we developed and tested a model to examine the positive impact of coaching leadership on employees’ taking charge behavior. We conducted a multi-wave, multi-source survey study among technical workers in a large Chinese innovative manufacturing company, and finally collected data from 351 leader-employee dyads. The results show that coaching leadership promotes technical workers’ taking charge behavior by enhancing their task crafting. In addition, task difficulty positively moderates the effect of coaching leadership on task crafting, thereby increasing taking charge behaviors among technical workers. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed in the study.
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