This paper offers an empirical study of the role of work motivation in mediating the effect of education-training and leadership style on the performance of Ministry of Education employees in Timor-Leste. Data were obtained from 86 employees as samples through questionnaires. We applied the SEM-PLS to analyze the proposed relationship model. Empirical results show that work motivation mediated the influence of leadership style on employee performance, but not for education-training. The results can provide valuable insight for public service management.