The study underpins the role of emotions (both positive and negative emotions) in defining one’s potential for leadership. Considering how identifying the role of emotions early-on and channeling them could lead to effective organizational leadership, we examine the role of self-conscious emotions – specifically, authentic pride, benign envy, and guilt-proneness- in predicting leadership by underpinning the importance of psychological capital (PsyCap) in explaining the mechanism connecting them. We employ a single- wave, multi-source online survey and adopt partial-least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for analysis. The results show a direct positive relationship between guilt-proneness and leadership potential. PsyCap emerges as a significant mediator, amplifying the relationships between all the emotional traits and leadership potential.
