<p>Previous research has focused more on the positive effects of teachers’ professional identity on their professional growth and well-being, with limited attention paid to its antecedents. This study aimed to examine the significant role of authentic leadership in enhancing teachers’ professional identity by empirically testing the relationship between authentic leadership and teachers’ professional identity, as well as revealing the mediating roles of knowledge sharing and self-efficacy between them, based on the conservation of resources theory. A total of 4101 Chinese elementary and secondary school teachers were surveyed for this study. Data analysis was conducted using a mixed-methods approach combining covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and artificial neural networks (ANN). The results indicated that authentic leadership was significantly and positively correlated with teachers’ professional identity, knowledge sharing, and self-efficacy. Knowledge sharing was significantly and positively associated with both teachers’ professional identity and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy was also significantly and positively associated with teachers’ professional identity. Knowledge sharing and self-efficacy not only served as independent mediators between authentic leadership and teachers’ professional identity but also played a chain-mediating role. Furthermore, ANN analysis indicated that self-efficacy exhibited the strongest predictive power for teachers’ professional identity, followed by authentic leadership and, finally, knowledge sharing. This study not only elucidates the mechanisms through which authentic leadership influences teachers’ professional identity, thereby offering a leadership perspective for enhancing teachers’ professional identity, but also provides practical strategies for school administrators.</p>