Green transformational leadership: a holistic review and prospective research directions

Abstract

Purpose. This article provides a holistic synthesis of worldwide scholarly work on green transformational leadership (GTL), offering insights into its development and evolution over time. Furthermore, it critically examines prevailing research trends and emerging themes within this domain on a global scale. Methods. We conducted data collection by retrieving scientific articles from Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus. Our study comprehensively reviewed 154 peer-reviewed articles on GTL, indexed in Scopus and WoS, spanning the period 2013–2024. Findings. Our findings indicate that research on GTL globally began relatively late, starting in 2013, and only experienced significant growth from 2022 onward. As of the end of 2024, a total of 154 documents on GTL have been published worldwide, accumulating 5,726 citations, with contributions from 484 authors representing 37 countries and appearing across 90 sources. The study also reveals substantial disparities among countries and continents, with Asian nations taking the lead, while research on GTL in other regions remains relatively underexplored. China is the world leader in GTL-related publications. The trajectory of GTL research remains heavily tied to the private sector, suggesting that future studies should expand their focus to include GTL within public sector management, aligning with trends toward sustainable development and green public governance. Originality/Value. Our study represents one of the pioneering academic efforts to conduct a systematic review of GTL through bibliometric analysis. We propose several emerging and trending topics for future research on GTL