Leadership integrity and employees’ success: role of ethical leadership, psychological capital, and psychological empowerment

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effect of leadership integrity on employees’ success. In this regard, the mediating role of ethical leadership and the moderating role of psychological capital and psychological empowerment were considered as well. Design/methodology/approach This study is an applied research and a descriptive-correlation survey that used quantitative data. Data were collected from 302 employees of a large factory in Iran who was selected randomly. The research questionnaire consisted of 54 statements and was distributed among the sample. Data was analyzed through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings The findings of this study show that leader integrity and ethical leadership have a positive effect on employees’ success and psychological capital and psychological empowerment moderate these effects. Moreover, leader integrity has an indirect effect on employees` success through employees’ perception of ethical leadership. Originality/value This study mainly contributes by explaining two sets of variables related to leaders’ behavior and employees’ cognitive competence which are complementary in improving employees’ potential success. The results highlight that leaders’ behavioral integrity can amplify ethical leadership which can ultimately leads to employees’ success if they have a high psychological empowerment and psychological capital.