Leaders with better mental health get better outcomes

If your leaders can’t get the support they need, you’re less likely to see the positive outcomes you hope for.

Leaders with better mental health get better outcomes.

Kaluza and colleagues summarized data on 12,617 participants across 88 studies (Work Stress 34, 34–56, 2020). Leaders with poorer personal well-being were more likely to engage in destructive leadership behaviors.

In describing destructive leadership, the authors didn’t just include obviously destructive behaviors like abuse, coercion, and an autocratic approach. They also included more passive gaps in leadership: management-by-exception, laissez-faire supervision, and avoidant governance.

The opposite was also true: leaders with better well-being showed more signs of positive leadership.

None of this is meant to blame leaders for being human. Mental health is something we all have to work on.

But it is a reminder that supporting great mental health starts in the boardroom. If your leaders can’t get the support they need, you’re less likely to see the positive outcomes you hope for.