Background

Well-being of employees depends on behaviors of leaders. But does it matter for the happiness of followers if the leader is happy as well? And do happy leaders behave differently towards their subordinates than unhappy ones? In this study we make an attempt to unpack the mechanism of cross-over of well-being from the leader to the follower. We ask the question of how happiness changes the way in which the leader behaves, and how is that conveyed to happiness of followers, both directly and indirectly.

Aims

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the direct effect of leader’s well-being on follower’s well-being as well as indirect effect mediated by positive leadership behaviors, namely supportive leadership and empowering leadership. 

Method

We use the data from 406 leader-follower dyads and structural equations modeling to test the hypotheses.

Results

We confirm the expected cross-over effect of well-being from the leader to the follower. This corroborates earlier findings in relation to other well-being-related constructs. We further unpack the mechamism of such cross-over effect and conclude that it is partly due to affective cross-over also referred to as emotional contagion. Happy leaders are more inclined to give support and power to their followers which, in turn, makes followers happier. We also found that majority of the cross-over effect is indirect and mediated by supportive and empowering leader’s behaviors. It seems that those two styles of leadership, and their consequences are reinforcing themselves, their combination is beneficial for well-being of followers.

Conclusion

The results contribute to the body of literature on leader’s behaviors and well-being: we reverse the question on the effect of leadership style on well-being – we ask how are leader’s behaviors driven by the level of leader’s well-being; we unpack the mechamism by which the well-being of the leader crosses over to the well-being of the follower; we uncover that leader’s happiness might be an important resource in leading employees.