The present study examined the impact of school principals’ cultural intelligence on teachers’ motivation and willingness to implement educational innovations in secondary schools of Western Mazandaran, emphasizing the mediating role of school organizational culture. This research employed a descriptive–correlational design and utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the proposed conceptual model. Data were collected through standardized questionnaires measuring cultural intelligence, organizational culture, and teachers’ innovation-related motivation. Descriptive results indicated that principals demonstrated relatively high levels of cultural intelligence, while teachers reported strong readiness and motivation to adopt innovative teaching practices. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the construct validity of all measurement instruments. The SEM results revealed that principals’ cultural intelligence had a significant and positive effect on school organizational culture, which in turn strongly predicted teachers’ motivation toward educational innovation. Although the direct effect of cultural intelligence on teachers’ innovation willingness was significant, bootstrap analysis showed that a substantial portion of this effect operated indirectly through organizational culture. These findings highlight the critical role of culturally intelligent leadership in shaping supportive and collaborative school cultures that foster teacher innovation. Enhancing principals’ cultural intelligence may therefore serve as a strategic approach for promoting innovation-oriented environments in schools.