Agile leadership and employee outcomes: A bibliometric analysis for future research agenda

BACKGROUND: Agile leadership is a critical factor in contemporary organizational dynamics, significantly influencing employee outcomes. Despite its growing importance, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of the impact and the research trends. OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to conduct a bibliometric analysis to explore the existing literature on agile leadership and its relationship with employee outcomes. METHODS: Data was collected from the Scopus scientific database, focusing on publications from 2010 to May 2024. Using the keywords “agile”, “leadership”, and “agile leadership”, 278 relevant documents were identified and analyzed with VOSviewer software. The data on publications, years, subject areas, authors, journals, institutions, and countries were examined by applying bibliometric analysis. RESULTS: The analysis showed a steady increase in publications on agile leadership, particularly in the last decade. The key research clusters included the impact of agile leadership on interpersonal communication, trust, teamwork effectiveness, job satisfaction, decision-making process, and sustainable innovation in digital transformation. Prominent journals, influential authors, and frequently cited articles were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Agile leadership was increasingly recognized for its valuable impact on employee outcomes. Agile leadership became a catalyst for enhancing interpersonal communication, building trust, improving teamwork effectiveness, increasing job satisfaction, streamlining decision-making processes, and enhancing sustainable innovation for successful digital transformation.