Digital Leadership from the Perspective of Dynamic Capabilities: The Effect on Sustainable Performance and Resilience through Agility

Purpose – This study aims to examine the impact of digital leadership on sustainable performance and organizational resilience, focusing on the mediating role of organizational agility. Based on the Dynamic Capabilities Theory, it explores how digitally competent leaders develop and leverage organizational capabilities to foster strategic adaptability and long-term success. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 312 public- and private-sector employees in Turkey using structured survey instruments. SPSS and AMOS were used to analyze the data. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and bootstrapping were applied to test direct and indirect effects, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) assessed validity and reliability. Findings – The findings reveal that digital leadership has a positive and significant impact on organizational agility, resilience, and sustainable performance. Furthermore, organizational agility significantly mediates the effects of digital leadership on both sustainable performance and organizational resilience. The results confirm the central assumptions of the Dynamic Capabilities framework by demonstrating that digital leadership enhances the organization’s ability to reconfigure internal processes in response to environmental changes. Originality/value – This study is among the first to empirically examine the mediating role of organizational agility in the digital leadership–resilience–sustainability nexus. It enriches the literature by providing robust evidence that digital leadership, operating through agility as a dynamic capability, enhances long-term organizational competitiveness in dynamic and uncertain environments.