Background and Objective: This research was conducted to model the effect of authentic leadership on organizational forgetting, with the mediating role of psychological capital, among employees of the Ardabil Provincial Department of Education.

research methodology: The research is applied in terms of objective and descriptive-correlational in terms of methodology. The statistical population consisted of all 240 employees of the Ardabil Provincial Department of Education during the 2025-2026 academic year. Based on Cochran’s formula, a sample size of 144 individuals was selected using simple random sampling. The data were collected using three standard questionnaires: the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire by Avolio et al. (2007), the Organizational Forgetting Questionnaire by De Holan and Phillips (2004), and the Psychological Capital Questionnaire by Luthans and Avolio (2007). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) utilizing SPSS and AMOS software.

Findings: The results indicated that authentic leadership has a significant negative direct effect on organizational forgetting, and also that authentic leadership has a significant positive direct effect on psychological capital. Furthermore, authentic leadership has a significant indirect effect on organizational forgetting through the mediation of psychological capital.

Conclusion:By gaining a better and more optimal understanding of the dimensions of authentic leadership and utilizing this leadership style effectively in departments of education, it is possible to contribute to increasing the level of psychological capital and reducing organizational forgetting among employees.