Adaptive Leadership and Governance Mechanisms in Sustainability-Oriented Inter-Organizational Networks: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Narrative Synthesis

Background: Leadership in sustainability-oriented inter-organizational networks is increasingly enacted through governance-related practices rather than firm-centric or individualized constructs, reflecting distributed authority, shared accountability, and plural sustainability objectives. Yet scholarship remains conceptually fragmented across adjacent constructs such as orchestration, meta-governance, and brokerage. Objective: This systematic review synthesizes how leadership is conceptualized and enacted through governance mechanisms in inter-organizational networks pursuing sustainability goals. Methods: Peer-reviewed journal articles in English were included; non-peer-reviewed publication types and studies lacking substantive inter-organizational and leadership/governance relevance were excluded. Structured searches were conducted in Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection (last searched 11 February 2026). Results were synthesized through qualitative narrative synthesis using iterative thematic coding and narrative integration. Risk of bias was not formally assessed because the review aimed at conceptual mechanism integration rather than effect estimation; interpretive adequacy safeguards guided inclusion and synthesis. Results: Thirty-one peer-reviewed journal articles were included. Across the corpus, leadership is primarily theorized as (i) orchestration and meta-governance; (ii) governance mechanisms as the formal and informal infrastructure enabling and constraining network leadership; and (iii) brokerage and boundary-spanning practices that align actors and mediate institutional tensions. These dimensions operate as mutually reinforcing layers of coordination capacity, shaping how sustainability trade-offs become governable in the absence of hierarchy. Limitations: Evidence is limited by database-only searching, English-language restriction, and the absence of a formal risk-of-bias appraisal; findings are therefore interpretive and mechanism-oriented rather than effect-based. Conclusions: The review advances a conceptual reframing: leadership in sustainability-oriented inter-organizational networks is best understood not as an actor property but as a systemic coordination capacity embedded in governance architecture. By articulating meta-governance as a design layer, orchestration as a coordination layer, and brokerage as a translation and legitimacy layer, the study develops a multilevel analytical model integrating leadership and governance at the network level, with implications for innovation ecosystems, strategic collaboration, and sustainability transitions.