<![CDATA[The demanding standards of premium service in the hospitality industry frequently expose frontline personnel to heavy workloads, irregular shift patterns, and continuous emotional regulation. These strenuous working conditions generate significant psychological vulnerability, particularly the emergence of emotional exhaustion and role conflict that directly threaten service delivery quality. This study aims to investigate and synthesize the strategic role of work-life balance in mediating and moderating the relationships among authentic leadership, emotional exhaustion, and employee performance. Employing a systematic literature review guided by the PRISMA 2020 statement, comprehensive searches were conducted across reputable international databases for empirical publications from 2022 to 2026. Following screening and eligibility appraisal of 418 identified records, 16 full-text empirical articles met all inclusion criteria and were synthesized qualitatively. Findings reveal that authentic leadership, characterized by relational transparency, balanced processing, and moral integrity, fosters subordinate trust, diminishes affective exhaustion, and enhances employee job performance. Furthermore, work-life balance operates as an instrumental resource replenishment mechanism and a vital protective boundary condition that prevents emotional exhaustion from undermining daily service outcomes. Practical implications underscore the necessity for hotel management to adopt humane scheduling practices alongside ethical leadership development, while theoretical implications highlight the need for longitudinal empirical testing of this integrated conceptual framework within emerging hospitality markets.]]>
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