Understanding the impact of ambidextrous leadership on CWB and task performance via psychological empowerment

Purpose This research aims to investigate how ambidextrous leadership (AL) enhances competitiveness through better task performance and lower counterproductive work behavior among hotel employees in North India. By encouraging psychological empowerment, AL increases employee confidence, aligns behaviors to achieve organizational goals and elicits positive long-term organizational outcomes. Design/methodology/approach With a quantitative design, data were collected from 516 employees of leading North Indian hotels using a structured self-administered questionnaire. The proposed hypotheses were tested through structural equation modeling (SEM) with the help of SPSS and AMOS 21. Findings The research reveals that ambidextrous leadership plays a crucial role in reducing counterproductive work behavior and simultaneously enhancing task performance in top North Indian hotels. Furthermore, PE serves as a mediator in the connections among AL, counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and task performance (TP). These results underscore the importance of developing an empowering work environment to maximize the benefits of AL. Research limitations/implications The research demonstrates that ambidextrous leaders enhance performance and mitigate counterproductive behavior by promoting psychological empowerment, underscoring its critical role in the hotel industry of India. To improve outcomes, managers should ensure impartiality, balance innovation with efficiency and empower staff. Originality/value This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by integrating AL, CWB, TP and PE within the hospitality sector, which is often neglected in leadership studies. The results provide helpful insights about how AL increases favorable workplace results while mitigating adverse behaviors.