The Impact of Knowledge oriented leadership, transformational leadership, team empowerment and team performance in the software companies of Pakistan.

Purpose – Grounded in the Social Exchange Theory (SET), this endeavor investigates the impact of knowledge oriented leadership (KOL), transformational leadership (TL), and project success (PS). It further examines the mediating influence of team empowerment and team performance, uncovering their pivotal roles in increasing leadership effectiveness on project outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – Empirical data were collected from 350 project professionals working within IT Sector, and the proposed model was rigorously tested using the Smart-PLS structural equation modeling technique.Findings – The findings unveil that both TL and KOL significantly enhances project success, underscoring strategic value in project-based settings. Moreover, the mediating roles of team empowerment and team performance brighten critical pathways through which leadership styles exert their influence, emphasizing the importance of fostering cohesive and empowered teams for achieving superior project performance. The findings unveil a significant impact of TL on project success, with team empowerment and team performance playing crucial mediating roles in this relationship. In contrast, the impact of knowledge oriented leadership on project success was also found to be significant, however, the mediating roles of team empowerment and team performance between KOL and project success were remain statistically insignificant. These results underscore the pivotal role of leadership styles and team dynamics in augmenting project success while underscoring the limited influence of team outcomes between KOL and PS relationship in the software companies of Pakistan.Originality/value – This endeavor offers novel insights into the substantial effect of leadership styles on project success. It highlights the leading role of transformational leadership in driving project outcomes through the mediating roles of team empowerment and team performance. In contrast, this endeavor reveals the limited influence of knowledge oriented leadership on project success through team outcomes. By emphasizing the significance of transformational leadership and the facilitating role of team dynamics, this endeavor contributes to the evolving discourse on leadership and team functioning in project-based settings. These outcomes offers actionable implications for leaders seeking to optimize team performance and realize project success.