Paradoxical leadership and organizational effectiveness: exploring the pathways through job motivation and job involvement

Purpose This paper is an analysis of how the concept of paradoxical leadership, which strikes a balance between control and empowerment, influences the performance of employees. It also examines the mediation processes of job motivation and job involvement to give a description of the psychological processes involved in the reality of paradoxical leadership in the Indian automobile sector. Design/methodology/approach The quantitative research design was followed based on the data gathered in the form of a structured questionnaire survey to 500 of the employees who work in automobile firms in Chennai, India. To analyse the date the structural equation model was used and to test the direct and indirect correlation between variables. Findings The findings suggest that the paradoxical leadership positively influences the performance of the employees significantly. This relationship is partly mediated by job motivation and job involvement, ensuring the presence of a dual mediation effect. Leaders who can properly combine directive and enabling behaviours can increase performance. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional design and single industry focus limit causal inference and generalizability. Future studies should use longitudinal and multi sectoral designs to enhance validity across diverse contexts and strengthen the rigor of findings. Social implications The results indicate the significance of leadership development programs that enhance paradoxical thinking towards employee motivation, engagement and performance in dynamic organisational cultures. Originality/value This work gives preliminary empirical data of a dual mediation model on how paradoxical leadership mediates employee performance within an industrial setting of a developing economy.