The contested relationship between leadership and intellectual capital: a review and research agenda

Purpose This study aims to map the intellectual structure, thematic evolution and research agenda of leadership as organizational intellectual capital through bibliometric analysis. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyzed 439 English-language Web of Science Core Collection publications through 31 December 2025. Performance analysis, bibliographic coupling and co-word analysis in VOSviewer identified influential publications, thematic clusters and emerging trajectories. Findings The field has progressed from treating leadership and intellectual capital separately to an integrated domain centered on innovation, sustainability, knowledge management and resilience. Five bibliographic coupling streams address intellectual capital utilization, governance, knowledge strategy, value creation and entrepreneurial transformation. Co-word analysis highlights sustainability, dynamic capabilities, social capital, creativity and leadership-driven intellectual-capital systems, positioning leadership as an architect of sustainable value creation. Originality/value The study reconceptualizes leadership as dynamic, systemic organizational capital and provides a current synthesis and research agenda for leadership and intellectual-capital scholarship.