Transformational leadership and project success: The mediating role of trust and job satisfaction

Muhammad Zeeshan Fareed; Qin Su; Mubarak Almutairi; Kashif Munir; Mian Muhammad Sadiq Fareed

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.954052

Transformational leadership and project success: The mediating role of trust and job satisfaction

Front Psychol. 2022 Sep 15:13:954052. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.954052. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Muhammad Zeeshan Fareed¹, Qin Su^{1

2

3}, Mubarak Almutairi⁴, Kashif Munir⁵, Mian Muhammad Sadiq Fareed⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Management, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
² State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Xi'an, China.
³ The Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Process Control & Efficiency Engineering, Xi'an, China.
⁴ College of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Hafr Al Batin, Hafar Al Batin, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Computer Science, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan.

Abstract

Transformational leadership (TFL) impacts on project and organizational success are well established. However, many underlying factors that make TFL effective are still missing. Therefore, we formulated hypotheses and tested the mediating role of trust (TS) and job satisfaction (JS) in linking TFL to project success (PS). A time-lagged methodology was used to collect quantitative data using a structured questionnaire from 326 project manager-team member dyads working in Pakistan's public sector. Our results showed that TS, JS, and TFL significantly impacted project success. Moreover, we found that TS and JS mediate the relationship between TFL and PS. These findings highlight the importance of trust and job satisfaction as mechanisms that translate TFL into the success of projects for organizations.

Keywords: job satisfaction; project success; public sector; transformational leadership; trust.