Drawing upon self-determination theory the current study investigated the relationship between a leader’s emotional intelligence and leader’s ambidexterity. It evaluated the cross-level effects of ambidextrous leadership on the follower’s job crafting with the mediating role of psychological capital. The current study sample consists of 471 employees nested in 111 teams of advertising agencies. Data was collected through an online questionnaire. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses through the M-Plus version 7. The findings of the study indicate that emotional intelligence has a direct and positive impact on a leader’s ambidexterity at the team level. Moreover, the study found that ambidextrous leadership has a positive impact on followers’ job crafting at the individual level, further, the relation is mediated by the psychological capital of employees. The current research helps to understand comprehension of ambidextrous theory by examining how emotional intelligence functions as an antecedent to ambidexterity in leadership and job crafting as an outcome. Furthermore, it contributes to methodology by assessing variables at both the leadership and individual levels.

Keywords: Emotional Intelligence, Ambidextrous Leadership, Job Crafting, Self-determination Theory.