Workplace Wellbeing: A Transformational Leadership Perspective
Tags: Mental Health, Leadership Skills, Management Skills

Transformational leadership is needed when it comes to enabling our employees to thrive within a mentally healthy workplace

With more time, money, and energy being invested into our employees’ mental health than ever before, we may well be on the cusp of a workplace wellbeing revolution. Nonetheless, for us to truly ensure employee wellbeing becomes a staple of our organisational strategy (as opposed to a corporate check box we feel inclined to pay lip service to) it’s imperative we explore what, or more specifically who, may prove pivotal in guiding the success of our wellbeing-based initiatives.

The Leader’s Role

The link between effective leadership and employee wellbeing is undeniable. However, when it comes to creating the conditions required for our employees to thrive within their place of work, it could be argued that not all leadership styles are created equal. In fact, in response to the increasing appetite for knowledge in relation to what it takes to create and sustain a mentally healthy workplace, the focus is very much shifting toward the role of the transformational leader.

The transformational leader is characterised by their capacity to motivate, inspire, and positively guide their followers toward the achievement of an organisation’s mission, vision, and objectives. Those adopting a transformational style are often regarded as charismatic and visionary and have even been described as the personification of organisational excellence. However, when it comes to promoting workplace and employee wellbeing how can these transformational capabilities best be harnessed?

The 4I Perspective

To better understand and appreciate the transformational leader’s role in helping to create and sustain a culture of positive wellbeing, let’s draw our attention toward the 4Is (Idealised influence, Inspirational motivation, Individual consideration, and Intellectual stimulation) that have come to be synonymous with this style of leadership:

Idealised influence: the transformational leader serves as a role model and exemplifies positive behaviours that their followers feel inspired to emulate. In the context of workplace wellbeing, the transformational leader should engage in ethical reasoning to identify the behaviours they feel will be most beneficial in creating a mentally healthy workplace culture. These behaviours may extend to using their influence to initiate discussions about mental health (and in so doing help reduce stigma), demonstrating genuine concern and empathy toward those who may be struggling with work-related stresses, or ensuring they practice what they preach when it comes to looking after their physical health and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Inspirational motivation: the transformational leader has the capacity to inspire others toward the attainment of a company’s vision, mission, and objectives. Additionally, this aptitude for inspiration further extends to helping followers find an enduring sense of meaning and purpose in their own professional practices. Whilst fostering a strong sense of purpose is in itself an advantageous avenue toward enhancing wellbeing, the transformational leader must also ensure that employee wellbeing is regarded as a central metric for organisational success: one which is engrained within the company’s broader vision, mission, and values. To help ensure wellbeing remains an important part of the organisational conversation, the transformational leader should stimulate conversations about what constitutes a “mentally healthy workplace” and formulate a clear strategy that will inspire others to work in service of this vision. Should they be met with reluctance, it’s important the transformational leader is able to draw attention to the numerous financial, performance, and reputational benefits that have come to be increasingly associated with investing time in wellbeing.

Individualised consideration: the transformational leader should seek to understand and fulfil the needs of their followers. It’s important to remember that wellbeing can mean different things to different people. As such, the transformational leader must endeavour to understand the wellbeing-related needs of each of their employees. It is worth noting that transformational leaders have been evidenced to be highly effective in helping their employees achieve balance between workplace demands and resources. As such, they should take time to understand the demands placed upon their followers (particularly those that incur unwanted psychological costs, such as stress) and provide the specific resources required to reduce the negative impact of these demands, whilst also stimulating learning and personal growth. On the subject of growth, the transformational leader should also work with their employees to sculpt their professional roles in a manner that is more closely aligned with their embedded values and life interests.

Intellectual stimulation: the transformational leader challenges their employees to look toward new ways of thinking. By stimulating their workforce on an intellectual level, transformational leaders can promote feelings of confidence and self-efficacy amongst members of their working teams, which in turn enables them to feel more safe and secure in their working practices. In addition, promoting intellectual pursuits can enhance task clarity and reduce feelings of ambiguity and uncertainty (two key drivers of work-related stress). In the continued pursuit of a positive workplace wellbeing agenda, transformational leaders should also challenge their followers to find the answers to important questions such as “How might we identify that one of our colleagues is struggling with their mental health?” or “What can we do to best support our own wellbeing in the workplace?”

The Future

Irrespective of whether your own leadership style aligns to the 4I philosophy of transformational leadership, it’s becoming ever more apparent that our capacity to create and support an environment that champions employee wellbeing and mental health should be regarded as a highly desirable leadership competency. With that in mind, don’t delay. Take the opportunity to reflect upon how you can become a champion for workplace wellbeing within your own working team, and while you’re at it, think about how you can convince your company to do the same.

Sources

Arnold, K. A. (2017). Transformational leadership and employee psychological well-being: A review and directions for future research. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 381.

Don, Y. (2004). Leading well: Transformational leadership and well-being. Positive psychology in practice, 241.

Erskine, J. A. K., & Georgiou, G. (2018). Leadership Styles: Employee Stress, Well-being, Productivity, Turnover and Absenteeism. Underst. Stress Work, 28–40.

Liu, J., Siu, O. L., & Shi, K. (2010). Transformational leadership and employee well‐being: The mediating role of trust in the leader and self‐efficacy. Applied Psychology, 59(3), 454–479.

Miao, R., & Cao, Y. (2019). High-performance work system, work well-being, and employee creativity: Cross-level moderating role of transformational leadership. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(9), 1640.