Effect on authentic leadership on innovation performance of Agriculture Jahad Organization in Kerman province: The mediating role of interpersonal trust and collaborative culture

This study examined the effect of authentic leadership on the innovation performance of the Agriculture Jahad Organization in Kerman Province, Iran, with interpersonal trust and collaborative culture as mediating factors. This study provides novel insights by demonstrating how authentic leadership operates through dual mediating pathways to enhance innovation performance in agricultural organizations, addressing a significant gap in both leadership and agricultural innovation literature. The research population consisted of 1418 employees, with a sample of 306 selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using standard questionnaires and analyzed via structural equation modeling. The results revealed that authentic leadership positively and significantly influenced collaborative culture, interpersonal trust, and innovation performance. Additionally, both collaborative culture and interpersonal trust directly enhanced innovation performance. The findings suggest that authentic leadership fosters innovation performance by strengthening collaborative culture and interpersonal trust.