How Green Leadership Shapes Employees’ Green Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Influence of Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

Over the past ten years, there has been a noticeable rise in the concept of green leadership (GL). Consequently, more leadership study has been conducted on this new notion, emphasizing the leading style of helping people combined with taking care of the environment. This study empirically investigates the mediating role of employees’ emotional intelligence (EI) in the relationship between green leadership (GL) and green organizational citizenship behavior (GOCB), highlighting GL as a pivotal driver of sustainable employee behaviors. The data of this research consisted of managerial professionals from the manufacturing and service industries of Pakistan. The non-probability sampling approach was employed on 381 employees from the respective sectors. PLS-SEM software was used to evaluate the data collected. The empirical results demonstrate that green leadership (GL) exerts a significant and positive effect on green organizational citizenship behavior (GOCB). In addition, emotional intelligence (EI) partially mediates this relationship, highlighting its role as an underlying affective–cognitive mechanism that translates leadership influence into sustainable employee behavior. Specifically, leaders who display environmental commitment while demonstrating emotional awareness and responsiveness foster employees’ emotional regulation and empathy, thereby encouraging greater participation in discretionary green initiatives. In turn, enhanced EI strengthens employees’ intrinsic motivation and inspirational engagement, encouraging them to exhibit discretionary pro-environmental behaviors that extend beyond formal role requirements. This empirical study will give more in-depth insights into Pakistan's service and manufacturing industries. The research findings further suggest that managers can enhance their effectiveness by adopting a green leadership (GL) style, which enables them to cultivate stronger rapport and empathy with their subordinates. By understanding and addressing employees’ needs and expectations, leaders foster higher levels of emotional intelligence (EI) within the workforce. Over time, this enhanced EI contributes to a more positive organizational climate characterized by mutual trust, harmony, and collaborative engagement in the workplace.