Transformational leadership and project success: The serial mediating roles of team-building and psychological empowerment
Abstract
Project success (PS) remains a major concern in project-based organizations, particularly in complex and resource-constrained environments where leadership, team coordination, and employee motivation are critical. This study examines the relationship between transformational leadership (TL) and PS, with particular attention to the mediating roles of team-building (TB) and psychological empowerment (PE). Using cross-sectional survey data collected in 2025 from 720 project managers in Tunisia’s construction, information technology, and telecommunications sectors through purposive sampling, the study applies regression-based mediation analysis using MINITAB 17, with HC3 robust standard errors and bias-corrected bootstrapping (10,000 resamples). The findings indicate that TL positively influences PS both directly and indirectly through TB and PE. TB also positively predicts PE, supporting a serial mediation mechanism. These results suggest that TL improves project outcomes by strengthening team cohesion and enhancing employees’ PE. The study contributes contextual empirical evidence from Tunisia and provides practical insights to improve leadership and team effectiveness in project-based environments.Copyright (c) 2026 Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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