Caring for Oneself or for Others? How Consistent and Inconsistent Profiles of Health-Oriented Leadership Are Related to Follower Strain and Health

Abstract

Health-oriented leadership consists of three dimensions that contribute to employee health: staff care, i.e., health-specific follower-directed leadership, as well as both leaders’ and followers’ self care, i.e., health-specific self-leadership. This study explores profiles of follower self care, leader self care and staff care, and investigates the relationships with follower health in two samples. We identified four patterns of health-oriented leadership: A consistently positive profile (high care), a consistently negative profile (low care), and two profiles showing inconsistencies between follower self care, leader self care, and staff care (leader sacrifice and follower sacrifice). The high care profile reported the best health compared to both the low care profile and the inconsistent profiles. The follower sacrifice profile reported more strain than the leader sacrifice profile, while strain and health levels were the least favorable in the low care profile. Findings reveal that (in-)consistency between follower-directed leadership and self-leadership contributes to follower strain and health.

Health-Oriented Self- and Employee Leadership in Virtual Teams: A Qualitative Study with Virtual Leaders

“…Beyond that, the present study was able to ascertain further health-oriented self-leadership behavior: sleep, recreational activities, time management, and mental handling of stress. Previous empirical studies on the HoL model showed that leaders serve as role models for employees’ self-leadership and thus indirectly influence employees’ health [ 62 , 70 , 81 ].…”

“…Overall, leaders play a crucial role in workplace health prevention due to their role model function and evident influence on employee health [ 45 , 61 , 62 ]. A current meta-analysis emphasizes the relevance of leader’s well-being for the entire organization, as it affects leadership behavior and consequently the well-being and performance of employees [ 52 ].…”

“…Among the most effective behaviors on how to deal with exhausted employees are the (re)design of tasks, emotional support, communication of expectations and offers of help by the leader [ 68 ]. On the other hand, they can indirectly influence employees’ health via their own state of health [ 69 ] and their health-oriented self-leadership [ 62 , 64 , 67 , 70 , 71 ]. By showing self-directed health awareness and behavior, they can serve as role models for the health-oriented self-leadership of employees [ 64 , 70 ].…”

“…By showing self-directed health awareness and behavior, they can serve as role models for the health-oriented self-leadership of employees [ 64 , 70 ]. The combination of a pronounced health-oriented employee and self-leadership of both leaders and employees as well as low levels of hazardous health behavior correlates positively with less stress and better employee health [ 62 ]. Furthermore, health-oriented leadership does not only lead to better health status but also to concrete health-oriented behavior of employees, namely the participation in courses of workplace health promotion [ 71 ].…”

Gesundheitsförderung in virtueller Teamarbeit durch gesundheitsorientierte Führung

“…Welchen entscheidenden Einfluss die Kombination aller drei Komponenten des HoL-Ansatzes (StaffCare, SelfCare der Führungskräfte und Mitarbeitenden) auf die Gesundheit der Mitarbeitenden haben können, konnten Klug et al [20] nachweisen. Sie konnten erstmalig anhand des HoL-Ansatzes vier Profile gesundheitsorientierter Führung identifizieren und diese auch im Zusammenhang mit Gesundheitsparametern untersuchen.…”