Knowledge and learning are important driving forces for business success and competitiveness, especially in the knowledge-intensive organizations (KIO's) whose core business is to create and sell knowledge (e.g. education, R&D units, and consultancy organizations, among others). Previous works suggested one of the Critical Success Factor (CSF) of Knowledge Management (KM) practices is leadership, but only few of them referred it in a quantitative way. This paper aims to explore and explain the link between leadership and KM success. Results show a positive relation between the strategic dimension of leadership and the success of KM practices. This model was tested using Structured Equation Model (SEM). With this study we contribute to recognize the importance of leadership in order to improve the creation and dissemination of knowledge in a KIO's. In this way, these findings will help managers and teachers to increase the effectiveness of learning.