Spiritual leadership as a model of employee performance: the mediated role of self-efficacy and knowledge sharing

Purpose This study examined the influence of spiritual leadership on employee self-efficacy and the dimensions of knowledge sharing, specifically tacit and explicit, which consequently mediate the relationship between spiritual leadership and employee performance. Design/methodology/approach A total of 615 Islamic financial institution employees were recruited during the study, and structural equation modeling was applied to test the research hypotheses. This study also applies Hayes’s approach to examine the mediator variable’s role. Findings Spiritual leadership vision plays an important role in strengthening employees’ self-efficacy, while faith and altruism fail to enhance employees’ self-efficacy. Furthermore, self-efficacy has a positive effect on influencing employees’ tacit and explicit knowledge sharing. Furthermore, self-efficacy and knowledge sharing partially mediate spiritual leadership and employees’ performance. Research limitations/implications This study applied among Indonesian Islamic bank employees; Future studies should validate other variables and contexts. Practical implications Islamic banks should enhance the employees’ activities that correlate to religious activity to support employees’ knowledge exchange and performance. Originality/value The research outcomes provide insight into enhancing an engaged workforce and proactive measures to increase private and public companies in the financial sector. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-10-2024-0867