The role of emotionally intelligent leadership and team trust in knowledge sharing behavior and project success

International assistance has increased over the past decade, focusing on sustainable development projects where non-governmental organizations play a vital role. The research explores how leader emotional intelligence, trust, and leadership styles impact team performance and project success. The research was structured in five inquiring questions. Analyzing the impacts of leader emotional intelligence in project success; Investigating influence of team performance on leadership, team dynamics and behavior; Exploring the effects of team-level trust on project success; Researching the impacts of paternalist and spiritual leadership styles on team and project success. A quantitative study took place in January 2024 among 351 workers in non-governmental organizations in Georgia. Partial Least Squares for Structural Equation Modeling was applied for data analysis. It finds that higher emotional intelligence positively influences trust and enhances team dynamics, leading to improved project outcomes. Team performance mediates the relationship between leadership and knowledge-sharing behavior, while both paternalist and spiritual leadership styles significantly affect workplace dynamics and project success.