Transformational leaders can make you sick

April 24, 2016 9:21 PM

A study of 155 postal workers in Denmark has found that, although "transformational leadership has previously been associated with positive employee well-being, better sleep quality, fewer depressive symptoms and reduced general absenteeism in the short term," in the long term

some vulnerable employees in groups with transformational leaders may... have increased sickness absence rates if they ignore their ill-health and frequently show up for work while ill, known as presenteeism.

Transformational leaders are defined as those who encourage their employees to perform above and beyond the call of duty, who formulate a clear vision of what is to be achieved by the team, and encourage employees to seek out challenges at work and engage in proactive problem solving. They also function as role models and consider individual employees' needs.

The effects found by the study showed up in year two, after transformational leadership in year one, but they weren't present in year three.

posted by clawsoon (8 comments total)

Huh. This is a weird study. As I read it, it doesn't contradict the benefits of transformational leadership, but it focuses on one previously unknown negative of increasing sick days because of presenteeism. The paper itself might be more rigorous and clear, but this abstract seems a little misleading (if I understand the topic correctly.)
posted by frumiousb at 1:10 AM on April 25, 2016

So the obvious lesson here is to convince everyone to work as a team and go above and beyond, but fire them before it takes a toll.
posted by clorox at 1:52 AM on April 25, 2016 [4 favorites]

But not before having them train their replacements - who now only know the 'above and beyond' of the previous job inhabitants as the new normal, and so can be 'encouraged' to perform even further 'above and beyond' in their turn…

(Thanks to what's basically (diagnosed) PTSD caused by a previous career working for a pack of <unmentionable> <unmentionables>, I have some real issues - as in "can literally literally feel my blood pressure & heart rate rising" - with the language & wording in both the press release and the actual study.

On the upside, thanks to that experience I now have a lot more understanding of folks who need 'trigger warning' attached to the most seemingly innocuous things…)
posted by Pinback at 2:08 AM on April 25, 2016 [9 favorites]

It will be interesting to see if this is confirmed in other settings, but as a Chicago sports fan this certainly rings true to the experience of recent years. Charismatic leaders like Dusty Baker and Tom Thibadeau led teams to overachieve in their early years only to have those teams fall apart due to injury and overwork a couple years down the line. Sustainability is a really tricky thing in sports and, it appears, in postal work.
posted by nangua at 2:29 AM on April 25, 2016 [3 favorites]

So everybody keeps a little reserve back when they're working. Through peer pressure, transformational leaders force employees to use up this reserve. Once this reserve is depleted, productivity drops below steady state.

Might as well call 'em vampires.
posted by scruss at 7:58 AM on April 25, 2016 [7 favorites]

"We don't like to hear the word "vampire" around here; we're trying to improve our public image. Building a kindly, avuncular, benevolent image; "interdependence" is the keyword -- "enlightened interdependence".
William S Burroughs
Advice for Young People
posted by evilDoug at 8:19 AM on April 25, 2016 [4 favorites]

Yeah, but we need growth.
posted by OwlBoy at 9:25 AM on April 25, 2016 [2 favorites]

"My employer requires strongly encourages presenteeism." said theora, coughing.
posted by theora55 at 2:23 PM on April 25, 2016 [1 favorite]