Is being a leader a mixed blessing? A dual‐pathway model linking leadership role occupancy to well‐being

Abstract

Summary Recent leadership research has drawn greater attention to how the well‐being of leaders influences leadership behaviors, follower performance and well‐being, and overall leadership effectiveness. Yet little attention has been paid to the relationship between occupying leadership positions and job incumbents' well‐being. This research addresses this question by developing and testing a dual‐pathway model. Our model proposes that incumbency in leadership positions is positively related to high levels of both job demands and job control, whereas job demands and job control have offsetting effects on well‐being. Results based on a longitudinal sample revealed that employees who transitioned from nonleadership positions to leadership roles showed trajectories of increasing job demands and job control, whereas such trends were weaker among those who remained in nonleadership positions. Findings from three additional samples generally demonstrated that leadership role occupancy was indirectly related to various indices of psychological and physiological well‐being through job demands and job control. Because the signs of the indirect effects through job demands and job control differed in expected ways, the overall relationship between leadership role occupancy and the well‐being outcomes was generally small and nonsignificant. We discuss research and practical implications of our framework and findings for organizations, employees, and leaders.

Mindfulness as a Buffer of Leaders’ Self-Rated Behavioral Responses to Emotional Exhaustion: A Dual Process Model of Self-Regulation

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“Grace Under Pressure”: How CEOs Use Serious Leisure to Cope With the Demands of Their Job

“…As public opinion has it, CEOs get handsomely rewarded for any inconvenience their jobs may present. Moreover, several studies show that managers’ mental health is not worse than that of non-managers ( Ganster, 2005 ; Skakon et al, 2011 ; Sherman et al, 2012 ; Li et al, 2018 ). One could debate how applicable these studies, based on entry-level to mid-level managers often working in government or the military, may be to the corporate executive suite, but such debates would take our focus away from the fact that, when it does occur, CEO stress has far-reaching consequences for the company’s results ( Hambrick et al, 2005a ; Siren et al, 2018 ) and for the quality of their leadership ( Hambrick et al, 2005b ; Sprague et al, 2011 ; Wirtz et al, 2017 ).…”

Participation in change, job characteristics, and hedonic well‐being of senior public managers: The moderation effect of change information

“…However, little is known about the extent to which the change process could affect a senior manager's perceptions of JD and JR. Recent studies (Barling & Cloutier, 2017; Li, Schaubroeck, Xie, & Keller, 2018) suggest there is a need to undertake more research focussed on the well‐being of individuals who occupy leadership positions in organisations. This study utilizes the Conservation of Resources theoretical lens to examine how change management affects workplace well‐being (i.e.…”