Entrepreneurial leadership research: a multilevel integration and agenda for future inquiry

Purpose This study synthesizes fragmented entrepreneurial leadership (EL) research through a systematic-integrative review and develops an integrative multilevel framework explaining how EL creates value across individual, team and organizational levels, advancing theoretical coherence and proposing a focused research agenda. EL has emerged as a critical phenomenon bridging the leadership and entrepreneurship domains; however, the field remains theoretically fragmented, with unclear conceptual boundaries. Design/methodology/approach This systematic-integrative hybrid review combines a PRISMA-guided search (44 ABDC A/A* articles from four databases) with integrative synthesis. We employed iterative thematic analysis to reconceptualize entrepreneurial leadership across organizational levels, generating a multilevel theoretical framework rather than descriptively aggregating the findings. Findings The findings reveal that EL operates as a multilevel catalyst, enhancing employee creativity through psychological resources, fostering team performance through knowledge sharing and driving organizational innovation through strategic flexibility. However, the literature exhibits significant theoretical fragmentation, with most studies employing single-lens perspectives that fail to capture the complexity of EL. Originality/value An integrative multilevel framework that bridges micro-foundations and macro-outcomes through relational-processual mechanisms is proposed. The research agenda identifies critical gaps, including ecosystem-level dynamics, digital transformation contexts and sustainability imperatives, thereby advancing EL scholarship toward theoretical coherence in response to contemporary entrepreneurial challenges.