The sports industry is a global enterprise marked by both tradition and constant pressures for innovation. Creativity is essential for driving innovation, yet professional sport often resists change, fearing disruption of long-held values and practices. This chapter explores the role of leadership in navigating this paradox, asking: What kinds of leadership are required to foster creativity and innovation in an industry that celebrates its traditions? We begin by framing leadership as the ability to hold tensions—balancing stability with change, tradition with transformation. Drawing on the broader organizational literature and emerging work in sport, we then focus on three leadership styles particularly suited to this task: transformational leadership, which inspires vision and challenges norms; adaptive leadership, which mobilizes collective flexibility in dynamic contexts; and paradoxical leadership, which embraces contradiction to create space for creativity. Empirical evidence from sport and related fields is used to illustrate the application of these approaches. We conclude by highlighting gaps in current knowledge, proposing future research directions, and advancing an integrated model of leadership for innovation. Finally, we consider the implications for leadership development in sport, drawing on insights from an industry partnership with SportsPro.