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This paper empirically aims to investigate the mediating role of leader knowledge-sharing behaviour (LKSB) in the relationship between humble leadership (HL) and work engagement (WE).

The responses of 321 employees in hospitality organisations in Jordan were collected via an online survey. The study data was then analysed using structural equation modelling.

The study found that leaders showing humble behaviour were able to share knowledge that ultimately improved employees’ work engagement; thus, confirming that leaders sharing knowledge behaviour mediates the relationship between HL and all three dimensions of work engagement.

This study delves into and sheds further light on HL theory by proposing that LKSB serves as a motivational basis for the relationship between HL and employees’ work engagement. By bolstering the mediating mechanism of LKSB, the findings provide new, deeper insights into the influence of HL on all three dimensions of work engagement.

Individual happiness at the workplace allows hospitality organizations to foster an optimistic work environment and endorse the well-being of their employees, which is essential for achieving long-term success. While ethical leadership has been verified as an interpreter of happiness, however, enhancing employee happiness at work remains a gap. The current study seeks to fill this gap by utilizing a multilevel model of the direct and indirect relationship between ethical leadership and happiness at work and also the mediation of group diversity in this relationship.

The study involved a cross-sectional study with a quantitative methodology. The authors collected data from 36 Jordanian hospitality teams. A total number of 960 participants were selected using the convenience sampling method. The model of the study was validated by multilevel structural equation modeling, and the hypothesized relationships were tested using SPSS 26.

Results showed that ethical leadership directly promoted happiness and indirectly through group diversity. Moreover, group diversity was found to mediate this relationship.

Findings propose that leaders within hospitality organizations can attain happiness at work by showing more ethical leadership. Practitioners within the hospitality industry likewise ought to recognize that promoting altruistic attitudes among followers is capable of guiding ethical leadership into happiness at work. Moreover, building a developmental culture is crucial for hospitality teams to reinforce the impact of ethical leadership on happiness at work.

The current study magnifies the leadership-happiness research by unlocking both the direct as well as indirect links, the mediation effect, between ethical leadership and happiness at work.