From Sustainable Leadership to Well-Being: A Systematic Literature Review on the Function of Collaborative Learning in Organizations

Numerous studies in the field of leadership have shown an important role for leadership in sustaining organizations by building an organizational culture that is both collaborative and sustainable, with trust at its core. However, existing research has not integrated evidence on how leadership fosters well-being and innovation. This study conducted a systematic literature review following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, based on the Scopus database for the period 2016–2025. A total of 35 peer-reviewed articles met the inclusion criteria. The data were analyzed through thematic coding and bibliometric visualization using VOSviewer 16.20. The findings reveal three dominant research areas: (1) sustainable leadership as a driver of organizational culture; (2) collaborative and participative leadership that promotes learning and trust; (3) integrating collaborative learning and innovation with employee well-being. The review also highlights important contextual differences across settings and leadership approaches to the leadership role and shared decision-making. It provides a synthesized analysis that illustrates how different forms of leadership shape collaborative learning and employee well-being. Given the importance and breadth of the concepts that this topic addresses, the study also offers several directions for future research.