University of Isfahan Archives in Sport Management and Leadership 2981-0523 4 2 2026 12 01 The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Resilience and Survival of Family Sports Businesses: A Case Study in Tehran 119 132 30554 10.22108/asml.2026.148147.1135 EN Zahra Mirmohammadi Department of Sport Management, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Arak University, Arak, Iran Zeinab Mondalizadeh Department of Sport Management, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Arak University, Arak, Iran Journal Article 2026 01 25 The purpose of this study was to examine the role of transformational leadership in enhancing resilience and ensuring the continuity of family-owned sports businesses. The study employed a descriptive survey design with a correlational approach. The statistical population consisted of key managers and influential employees working in family-owned sports businesses in Iran, from which 90 participants were selected using a convenience sampling method. Data were collected using the Organizational Resilience Questionnaire developed by Lengnick-Hall et al. (2011), the Transformational Leadership Scale proposed by Rafferty and Griffin (2004), and the Business Survival Questionnaire developed by Kozak (2017). The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with SmartPLS software. The findings revealed that transformational leadership has a direct and significant effect on resilience (path coefficient = 0.811) as well as on the survival of family-owned sports businesses (path coefficient = 0.384). In addition, the results indicated that resilience directly influences business survival (path coefficient = 0.477) and mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and business survival. Overall, the findings show that transformational leadership improves business survival by strengthening organizational resilience. Inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation play an important role in helping family-owned sports businesses adapt to change and manage crises. Furthermore, resilience was found to partially mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and business survival, as indicated by the Variance Accounted For (VAF = 0.525), demonstrating that both direct and indirect effects were significant. Therefore, managers should focus on motivating employees through a clear vision and encouraging continuous learning to strengthen resilience and support long-term sustainability in difficult economic conditions https://asml.ui.ac.ir/article_30554_5e4b6065a72ca0743fa48e8f74a7b980.pdf