Author(s): Ubair Ul Bashir
Knowledge-intensive organizations increasingly seek to foster both agile decision-making and employee well-being. This study investigates how combinations of ambidextrous leadership (AL), leader–member exchange (LMX), and career orientation (CO) influence two crucial outcomes for knowledge workers – decision-making agility (DMA) and work–life balance (WLB). Drawing on leadership and career theory, we develop a configurational model and employed fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to analyze survey data from mid-level managers, team leads, and analysts in IT and consulting sectors (N = 60). The results reveal multiple equifinal configurations of AL, LMX, and CO that lead to high DMA and high WLB. Notably, strong ambidextrous leadership combined with high-quality LMX emerges as a core driver of agile decision-making and employee work-life balance. In contrast, certain career orientations moderate these effects, highlighting that who the employee is (career-driven or not) influences how leadership yields agility and balance. The study extends ambidextrous leadership theory into the realm of employee well-being and offers a novel application of fsQCA in knowledge-work settings. We discussed theoretical implications for leadership and career research and practical insights for managers seeking to simultaneously boost organizational agility and support work–life balance.