Which leadership style leads to burnout?
A recent article published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology highlighted the types of leadership styles most likely to lead to burnout. Leadership style often determines the type of emotional response strategy that leaders will use when interacting with their employees. According to the researchers, the type of emotional response strategy will affect the leader’s likelihood of experiencing burnout. The three types of emotional response strategies include:
- Surface acting – when a leader displays one emotion to employees, while internally experiencing a different emotion.
- Deep acting – when a leader can manage his or her internal emotions to meet the needs of a situation.
- Genuine emotion – an outward display of a leader’s spontaneous reaction to a situation.
“Transformational leaders” (visionaries who inspire others) most often utilize deep acting and genuine emotion. These leaders often appear genuine to employees.
“Transactional leaders” (managers who try to maintain the status-quo) also use deep acting but are more likely to use surface acting as well. Surface acting is less emotionally draining. Because of this, transactional leaders can be viewed as superficial, which can lead to employees being distrustful of management and less engaged.
“Laissez-faire leaders” (passive leaders who grant autonomy and support) are most likely to use genuine emotion. Genuine emotion is the least emotionally draining response. This kind of leader avoids doing mental work and avoids problem-solving. Such leaders are organizationally destructive and not beneficial to employees.
Genuine emotion is the response strategy most likely to lead to burnout. Given this, transformational and laissez-faire leaders are the most likely to experience burnout. Transactional leaders, who utilize more surface acting, are least likely to experience burnout.