The Show Must Go On: The Effects of Crisis on Health-Oriented Leadership and Follower Exhaustion during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

By disrupting routines at work, the Covid-19 pandemic may have undermined the extent and effectiveness of health-oriented leadership (HoL) in terms of staff-care and self-care. In a survey with two measurement points in the spring of 2020 (Nt1=264; Nt2=123), we examined whether the stronger the crisis the lower HoL is, while becoming more effective in terms of follower health. Crisis severity turned out to be indirectly related to exhaustion via staff-care and self-care. Staff-care was more effective for follower health the stronger the crisis was. The results were largely supported in a subsample when exhaustion was measured 1 week later. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic was indirectly related to crisis severity via hindrance stressors. Findings underline that staff-care was jeopardized but gained in importance during the pandemic. By displaying staff-care, leaders can buffer negative crisis effects on followers. Organizations should strengthen HoL to protect the health of both leaders and followers during crises