The study primarily investigates the link between university faculties' leadership styles, institutional conditions, and the willingness of university academics to remain in Chinese private colleges. Specifically, it is aims to find the causative effects of leadership performance, supportive organizational culture, and perceived organizational justice on employees' trust in their institution, which, in turn, have a direct effect on their intention to stay. The Path-Goal Theory of Leadership specifies that the study proposes good leadership behaviors should not only grow employees' fairness and organizational support but also, as a key psychological factor, the trust in the organization that combines leadership with the results of employee retention. The quantitative approach of the questionnaire was used whereby data were collected from the academic staff in Chinese private universities and were analyzed using the structural equation modeling method to test the direct and mediating relationships. The findings are anticipated to fill the literature gap in leadership and retention through focusing on the main role of organizational trust in the explanation of leadership performance and organizational climate factors as the means of increasing employee commitment and reducing turnover intentions. The research is meaningful for the governance, trust-building, and sustainability of the workforce in the private higher education sector in China.