Exploring the Influence of Servant leadership on Employee performance: A study of Indian IT sector

This study investigates how servant leadership influences employee performance in the Indian Information Technology (IT) sector, focusing on the sequential mediating roles of employee engagement and well-being. It also explores the moderating role of employee cultural intelligence (ECQ) in these relationships. Data was gathered using a quantitative study design and structured online questionnaires that were sent to IT experts from different hierarchical levels and organizational types through google forms from different companies, and analysis was conducted using SPSS and Smart PLS 4 to test the proposed hypotheses. The study employed purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Findings reveal that servant leadership significantly enhances employee engagement and well-being, which subsequently lead to improved performance. Employees with higher cultural intelligence show a stronger positive response to servant leadership, further amplifying engagement and well-being. By integrating servant leadership principles with cultural intelligence, organizations can create more inclusive, adaptive, and high-performing work environments. The study contributes to the existing leadership and organizational behavior literature by highlighting how different components of cultural intelligence-cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and behavioral-distinctly affect the servant leadership and well- being link. This research offers the valuable insights for IT organizations aiming to boost employee performance through inclusive leadership and a culturally intelligent workforce.