Public organizations in South Asia are often portrayed as rigid, hierarchical, and slow to adapt. Yet behind these structures are employees whose willingness to go beyond formal job roles—what scholars term organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)—can make or break the functioning of public service delivery. This study aimed to investigate whether spiritual leadership, a model grounded in vision, hope, and altruistic love, could encourage such discretionary behaviors among the Pakistani public sector. Drawing on spiritual leadership theory and social exchange theory, the research proposed that two mechanisms—Islamic work ethics (IWE) and workplace spirituality (WS)—explain how leaders inspire employees’ citizenship behaviors. Data were collected from 386 employees across four major government organizations: the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the Excise and Taxation Department, Lahore Development Authority (LDA), and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). Using Hayes’ PROCESS Macro in SPSS, a parallel mediation model was tested. Results showed that spiritual leadership significantly predicted OCB both directly and indirectly. IWE and WS each mediated the relationship, with WS emerging as a slightly stronger channel. These findings suggest that employees reciprocate leaders’ spiritual qualities not only through adherence to ethical norms but also through a deeper sense of meaning and community at work. The study contributes to theory by contextualizing spiritual leadership within Islamic cultural settings and public administration, and it highlights practical steps for fostering leadership that builds both ethical and spiritual capital.
Usman et al. (Sat,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: