This paper explores the impact of green transformational leadership on green innovative work behaviors of employees in the Vietnamese retail industry. We extended the social exchange theory to test the mediating role of green knowledge sharing, green organizational identity, and trust in leaders in shaping the relationship between green transformational leadership and green innovative work behaviors. An online survey using convenience and snowball sampling methods was conducted from January to June 2025 to collect data. We received 385 valid responses. The structural equation modelling technique in SmartPLS software was utilized to test the proposed hypotheses. Our findings showed that green transformational leadership has both direct and indirect influence on green innovative work behaviors of employees through green knowledge sharing and trust in leaders. Among the three mediators, only green organizational identity does not mediate the relationship between green transformational leadership and green innovative work behaviors. It is implied in our study that policymakers should integrate leadership-oriented sustainability training into national green workforce strategies and promote retailer policies that improve employee knowledge and trust. Moreover, retail organizations are strongly encouraged to invest in leadership development programs that integrate sustainability principles, create reward systems for green innovation, and nurture organizational climates that support experimentation and continuous improvement.
Anh et al. (2026) studied this question.