University of Sistan and Baluchestan & Iranian Academy of Management Sciences Public Management Researches 2538-3418 18 69 2025 09 23 Understanding the Impact of Leadership Capital on the Empowerment of Human Resources; Analysis of the Mediating Role of Leaders' Empowering Behaviors Understanding the Impact of Leadership Capital on the Empowerment of Human Resources; Analysis of the Mediating Role of Leaders' Empowering Behaviors 251 286 9251 10.22111/jmr.2025.48143.6158 FA Amirhoushang Nazarpouri Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management and Economics, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran. Ali Shariatnejad Associate Professor, Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management and Economics, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran. Ali Omidi PhD Public Administration, Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management and Economics, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran. Journal Article 2024 03 04 Abstract Today, according to the rapid growth of technology in the competitive space of organizations and the emergence of challenges in the field of human resources, in order to prevent the weakening of human capital as the most valuable capital of organizations, against these challenges and to improve their performance, human resources must be empowered. Attention mode. One of the influential factors in this field is the role of leaders and their empowering behaviors. Therefore, the current research was conducted with the aim of understanding the impact of leadership capital on the empowerment of human resources with the mediating role of leaders' empowering behaviors. This research is based on the practical purpose and in terms of the descriptive survey method with the approach of structural equations. The statistical population of the research is the managers and employees of the government organizations of Lorestan province, which was determined using Cochran's formula and the confidence level was 95/. The number of sample members was determined as 384 people and these people were selected by simple random sampling method. In this research, the questionnaires of Bannister et al. (2015), Spritenzer and Mischer (1992) and Larikova (2013) were used to collect information, and their validity and reliability were confirmed by content validity and Cronbach's alpha. The structural equation modeling method and PLS software were used to test the hypotheses and analyze the data. The findings of the research show that capital-leadership has a positive and significant effect on the empowerment of human resources and the empowering behaviors of leaders. Therefore, as a general conclusion, it should be said that managers and leaders who have leadership capital can take effective steps towards empowering human resources in government organizations. Introduction Change is an element for the survival of the fittest, so that today, in a competitive era, there is a need for talented and competent leaders who cultivate efficient and skilled workforce by displaying their empowering behaviors (Ostanov, 2022). In fact, considering that human resources play a key role in the implementation of organizational operations, leaders who empower human resources with their behavior are an important necessity (Gelencser & et al, 2024). On the other hand, there are various methods to increase employee productivity in order to advance the organization's goals, one of which is human resource empowerment (vanova & scheve, 2020). One of the arts of skilled managers and leaders is to identify talented people in the organization and empower them to become a skilled workforce (Stano, 2022). Based on this index, it can be concluded that a large part of the inefficiency of the workforce is related to the lack of detailed employee empowerment programs in organizations, the main task of which is to develop and implement them is the responsibility of the managers and leaders of the organization; therefore, if leaders show empowering behaviors and provide detailed workforce empowerment programs, it is expected that this issue will improve and the workforce empowerment rate will show a better number. In addition to what was said, what deepens the research issue and makes this research necessary and important is the theoretical and empirical gap in the research. By reviewing the literature and background, it was determined that there is a theoretical and empirical gap regarding the research topic. In this regard, the title should be In the field of domestic research, no research has been conducted that attempts to explain the role of leadership capital and empowering behaviors of leaders on human resource empowerment. It can be acknowledged that none of the studies have examined the mediating role of empowering behaviors of leaders, and in a way, it can be said that this is the innovative aspect and knowledge-enhancing contribution of the present study. So, as mentioned above, what makes the importance of conducting the present study doubly important is the theoretical and practical gap regarding the research topic; therefore, the present study, by explaining the types of empowering behaviors of leaders and their role in empowering human resources, tries to reduce the research gap and theoretical vacuum related to this issue. Materials and Methods The present study is an applied research in terms of its purpose and a descriptive survey in terms of its data collection method with a structural equation modeling approach. Structural equation modeling (SEM) enables researchers to simultaneously model and estimate complex relationships between multiple dependent variables. The concepts under study are usually unobservable (latent) and are indirectly measured by variables with multiple indicators (Hayer, 2021). The statistical population of the study consists of managers and employees of government organizations in Lorestan province. Given that the size of the statistical population in this study is limited and specific to 178,000 government employees in Lorestan province, the Cochran sample calculation formula was used to determine the sample size, and based on that, the sample size was determined at a confidence level of 0.95 equal to 384 people and the sample members were selected using simple random sampling. The data collection tool in this study is a standard questionnaire. Discussion and Results The results of this study indicate that employee empowerment depends to a large extent on the behaviors, plans, and strategies of organizational leaders. By having empowering behaviors and creating favorable conditions for employees, leaders increase their sense of competence, so that employees become risk-takers and more interested in facing new challenges to learn more, instead of being afraid of failure or inability to do difficult tasks. The results of the study included testing the main hypotheses of the study, in which the effect of leadership capital on leaders' empowering behaviors and human resource empowerment was measured using structural equation modeling. The results of the hypotheses separately indicate that all research hypotheses were confirmed at a confidence level of 0.95. Given the research results and the types of empowering behaviors of leaders, some of the important strategies that can be followed in this regard are presented below: 1- Based on the research findings, sharing power is one of the empowering behaviors of leaders, and in this regard, it is suggested that managers strengthen the decision-making ability of employees by decentralizing and provide the necessary basis for increasing the motivation, speed, efficiency, and continuous effort of employees, making better use of the ideas of elites, and avoiding scattered decisions in the organization. 2- The research results indicate that delegation of authority and independence play an important role in empowering employees. Therefore, it is suggested that managers give their employees freedom of action and independence in their work so that they can determine the method and speed of performing the task themselves. To implement this suggestion, it is recommended that managers and supervisors use the Eisenhower Matrix, which shows them well which activities and tasks are best to delegate. 3- According to the research findings, it is suggested that leaders take action through team building, establishing trust-based communications, and encouraging teamwork to accomplish important tasks, because establishing trust-based communications among group members results in knowledge sharing in the organization, increases employee participation, and enhances their creativity, innovation, and problem-solving capabilities, and provides an ideal cycle for reducing costs and improving organizational productivity. 4- The research findings show that granting responsibility is another empowering behavior of leaders. Granting responsibility is the most motivating and main factor in maintaining and retaining human resources, which is suggested by using human resources in decision-making and management processes in organizations, while increasing employee motivation, preventing the waste of knowledge and problem-solving skills, and guiding them towards the organization's goals. 5- Finally, considering the importance of self-development and self-management in empowering human resources, it is suggested that by training them, developing and implementing self-management programs, and continuously measuring the success of these programs, a step be taken to strengthen the empowerment of employees in the organization, and also to provide the basis for the growth and career advancement of employees. It is also suggested that future research in this field: examine the structural, legal, and managerial obstacles that exist in the way of each component of employee empowerment. Also, examine issues such as the interaction and combination of other individual and organizational variables that affect employee empowerment. Abstract Today, according to the rapid growth of technology in the competitive space of organizations and the emergence of challenges in the field of human resources, in order to prevent the weakening of human capital as the most valuable capital of organizations, against these challenges and to improve their performance, human resources must be empowered. Attention mode. One of the influential factors in this field is the role of leaders and their empowering behaviors. Therefore, the current research was conducted with the aim of understanding the impact of leadership capital on the empowerment of human resources with the mediating role of leaders' empowering behaviors. This research is based on the practical purpose and in terms of the descriptive survey method with the approach of structural equations. The statistical population of the research is the managers and employees of the government organizations of Lorestan province, which was determined using Cochran's formula and the confidence level was 95/. The number of sample members was determined as 384 people and these people were selected by simple random sampling method. In this research, the questionnaires of Bannister et al. (2015), Spritenzer and Mischer (1992) and Larikova (2013) were used to collect information, and their validity and reliability were confirmed by content validity and Cronbach's alpha. The structural equation modeling method and PLS software were used to test the hypotheses and analyze the data. The findings of the research show that capital-leadership has a positive and significant effect on the empowerment of human resources and the empowering behaviors of leaders. Therefore, as a general conclusion, it should be said that managers and leaders who have leadership capital can take effective steps towards empowering human resources in government organizations. Introduction Change is an element for the survival of the fittest, so that today, in a competitive era, there is a need for talented and competent leaders who cultivate efficient and skilled workforce by displaying their empowering behaviors (Ostanov, 2022). In fact, considering that human resources play a key role in the implementation of organizational operations, leaders who empower human resources with their behavior are an important necessity (Gelencser & et al, 2024). On the other hand, there are various methods to increase employee productivity in order to advance the organization's goals, one of which is human resource empowerment (vanova & scheve, 2020). One of the arts of skilled managers and leaders is to identify talented people in the organization and empower them to become a skilled workforce (Stano, 2022). Based on this index, it can be concluded that a large part of the inefficiency of the workforce is related to the lack of detailed employee empowerment programs in organizations, the main task of which is to develop and implement them is the responsibility of the managers and leaders of the organization; therefore, if leaders show empowering behaviors and provide detailed workforce empowerment programs, it is expected that this issue will improve and the workforce empowerment rate will show a better number. In addition to what was said, what deepens the research issue and makes this research necessary and important is the theoretical and empirical gap in the research. By reviewing the literature and background, it was determined that there is a theoretical and empirical gap regarding the research topic. In this regard, the title should be In the field of domestic research, no research has been conducted that attempts to explain the role of leadership capital and empowering behaviors of leaders on human resource empowerment. It can be acknowledged that none of the studies have examined the mediating role of empowering behaviors of leaders, and in a way, it can be said that this is the innovative aspect and knowledge-enhancing contribution of the present study. So, as mentioned above, what makes the importance of conducting the present study doubly important is the theoretical and practical gap regarding the research topic; therefore, the present study, by explaining the types of empowering behaviors of leaders and their role in empowering human resources, tries to reduce the research gap and theoretical vacuum related to this issue. Materials and Methods The present study is an applied research in terms of its purpose and a descriptive survey in terms of its data collection method with a structural equation modeling approach. Structural equation modeling (SEM) enables researchers to simultaneously model and estimate complex relationships between multiple dependent variables. The concepts under study are usually unobservable (latent) and are indirectly measured by variables with multiple indicators (Hayer, 2021). The statistical population of the study consists of managers and employees of government organizations in Lorestan province. Given that the size of the statistical population in this study is limited and specific to 178,000 government employees in Lorestan province, the Cochran sample calculation formula was used to determine the sample size, and based on that, the sample size was determined at a confidence level of 0.95 equal to 384 people and the sample members were selected using simple random sampling. The data collection tool in this study is a standard questionnaire. Discussion and Results The results of this study indicate that employee empowerment depends to a large extent on the behaviors, plans, and strategies of organizational leaders. By having empowering behaviors and creating favorable conditions for employees, leaders increase their sense of competence, so that employees become risk-takers and more interested in facing new challenges to learn more, instead of being afraid of failure or inability to do difficult tasks. The results of the study included testing the main hypotheses of the study, in which the effect of leadership capital on leaders' empowering behaviors and human resource empowerment was measured using structural equation modeling. The results of the hypotheses separately indicate that all research hypotheses were confirmed at a confidence level of 0.95. Given the research results and the types of empowering behaviors of leaders, some of the important strategies that can be followed in this regard are presented below: 1- Based on the research findings, sharing power is one of the empowering behaviors of leaders, and in this regard, it is suggested that managers strengthen the decision-making ability of employees by decentralizing and provide the necessary basis for increasing the motivation, speed, efficiency, and continuous effort of employees, making better use of the ideas of elites, and avoiding scattered decisions in the organization. 2- The research results indicate that delegation of authority and independence play an important role in empowering employees. Therefore, it is suggested that managers give their employees freedom of action and independence in their work so that they can determine the method and speed of performing the task themselves. To implement this suggestion, it is recommended that managers and supervisors use the Eisenhower Matrix, which shows them well which activities and tasks are best to delegate. 3- According to the research findings, it is suggested that leaders take action through team building, establishing trust-based communications, and encouraging teamwork to accomplish important tasks, because establishing trust-based communications among group members results in knowledge sharing in the organization, increases employee participation, and enhances their creativity, innovation, and problem-solving capabilities, and provides an ideal cycle for reducing costs and improving organizational productivity. 4- The research findings show that granting responsibility is another empowering behavior of leaders. Granting responsibility is the most motivating and main factor in maintaining and retaining human resources, which is suggested by using human resources in decision-making and management processes in organizations, while increasing employee motivation, preventing the waste of knowledge and problem-solving skills, and guiding them towards the organization's goals. 5- Finally, considering the importance of self-development and self-management in empowering human resources, it is suggested that by training them, developing and implementing self-management programs, and continuously measuring the success of these programs, a step be taken to strengthen the empowerment of employees in the organization, and also to provide the basis for the growth and career advancement of employees. It is also suggested that future research in this field: examine the structural, legal, and managerial obstacles that exist in the way of each component of employee empowerment. Also, examine issues such as the interaction and combination of other individual and organizational variables that affect employee empowerment.

https://jmr.usb.ac.ir/article_9251_5e98f47a0de8d3d6b426776018bd8691.pdf