Health-oriented Leadership Research Articles

Health-oriented Leadership and Employees’ Well-being: An Explanatory Mechanism of Person-job Fit and Psychological Empowerment

Health-oriented Leadership and Employees’ Well-being: An Explanatory Mechanism of Person-job Fit and Psychological Empowerment

Do individual differences in perceived vulnerability to disease shape employees' work engagement?

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant impact on employees' work outcomes worldwide. However, it remains unclear whether some employees fared worse than others when facing work-related health threats and what role individual differences in vulnerability to disease played in shaping their work experiences. Integrating the evolutionary psychology perspective of the behavioral immune system with Job Demands-Resources Theory, we argue that a fundamental factor in how employees dealt with these threats was the extent to which they perceived themselves as vulnerable to infectious diseases. Employees with higher susceptibility to infectious diseases were predicted to experience heightened workplace safety concerns and engage less with their work. In addition, a health-oriented leadership style was expected to decrease employees' safety concerns and increase their work engagement, especially for the more vulnerable employees. To test hypotheses, we conducted a three-wave field survey and two vignette-based experiments on working adults in the United Kingdom at different stages of the pandemic. Results largely supported our predictions, revealing that employees who felt more vulnerable to infectious diseases were more concerned about their workplace safety, inhibiting their work engagement. We discuss these findings' theoretical and practical implications for promoting a safe and healthy post-pandemic workplace, especially for vulnerable employees.

Exploring the Influence of Health-Oriented Leadership on Subordinates’ Well-Being and Outcomes

Exploring the Influence of Health-Oriented Leadership on Subordinates’ Well-Being and Outcomes

“That was one of my most difficult and biggest challenges”: experiences, preconditions and preventive measures of health-oriented leadership in virtual teams – A qualitative study with virtual leaders

BackgroundHealth-oriented leadership (HoL) has a positive impact on health- and work-related outcomes of employees in face-to-face settings. Increased digitization during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to many changes and increased job demands. According to current state of research, HoL in virtual teamwork is insufficiently researched. The aim of the study is to examine the experiences of virtual leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify preconditions and preventive measures for promoting HoL.MethodUsing a qualitative study design, semi-structured, guide-based telephone interviews were conducted with 16 German virtual leaders between May and July 2021. The collected data were inductively analyzed and interpreted using qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. Explorative analyses of differences between leaders with and without pre-pandemic experiences with virtual leadership were made.ResultsResults indicated that leaders, regardless of pre-pandemic experiences with virtual leadership, faced diverse challenges in implementing HoL in virtual teamwork during the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual leaders perceived personal preconditions (e.g., leaders’ characteristics or behaviors), organizational preconditions (support by management or open-minded corporate culture), social preconditions (e.g., social support by team) and technical preconditions (e.g., sufficient technical equipment) as conducive to implementation of HoL. Almost all leaders with pre-pandemic experience identified a need for structural preventive measures, whereas almost all leaders without pre-pandemic experience reported a need for behavioral preventive measures in order to promote HoL in virtual teams.ConclusionsThis study suggests that implementing HoL in virtual teamwork is challenging, complex and requires adjustments in leadership behavior. Thereby, the study provides initial empirical findings for a holistic approach to HoL implementation in virtual teams, considering beneficial multilevel preconditions. Due to a limited generalization of present results, longitudinal and interventional studies will be necessary for the analysis of causal relationships in future research. In particular, a holistic research perspective in order to understand the complex, contextual interdependencies of leadership is recommended. In practice, based on a differentiated needs analysis, structural preventive measures for a holistic organizational development as well as behavioral preventive measures for ongoing personnel development are recommended.

UTILIZING DIGITAL COMPETENCES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT POTENTIAL IN HIGHER MEDICAL EDUCATION STUDENTS

Introduction. Building a robust healthcare system aimed at improving overall population health and a reliable electronic health system requires a corresponding level of proficiency in digital competences (DC) among future healthcare professionals. The relevance of this research lies in the understanding that the effective execution of medical and managerial responsibilities is impossible without an adequate level of DC, and mastering them must occur during the education of future healthcare professionals. The aim. To investigate the levels of proficiency in DC and the understanding of their importance among students enrolled in institutions of higher medical education (IHME) for the development of leadership and management potential during the educational process of future healthcare professionals. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 265 students (1st-6th years) at Dnipro State Medical University. Bibliosemantic and sociological methods were used. Students were grouped by academic year: junior (1-2), middle (3-4), and senior (5-6). Results were analyzed using widely accepted statistical approaches and the integrated development environment Jupyter Notebook (https://jupyter.org/install). A significance level of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant for all hypotheses. Results. According to the obtained data all students, regardless of their academic year, understand the importance of studying digital competences. On average, the overall importance level for all DC was 6.99 (95% CI 6.72-7.26) on a ten-point scale. Proficiency in DC significantly (p=0.002) varied depending on the academic year, with seniors scoring higher than middle (in all aspects) and junior students (for most aspects). No significant differences were found between the proficiency levels of junior and middle students (p>0.05). Proficiency in general DC was significantly higher compared to special medical and cybersecurity DC, both within each group and for all respondents. More than 80% of respondents stated that mastering DC is important for performing managerial functions, with no differences between groups (p>0.05). Conclusions. Present-day healthcare professionals require a proper level of proficiency in DC. The study demonstrates that students' motivation to learn DC is more than sufficient, but proficiency in special medical and cybersecurity DC needs improvement. The majority of respondents consider mastering DC an integral element in the formation of health-oriented leadership and effective management in healthcare. Mastering of DC should occur systematically with active involvement of IHME in the process.

Digital stress perception among German hospital nurses and associations with health-oriented leadership, emotional exhaustion and work-privacy conflict: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundThe use of digital information and communication technologies (ICT) can be accompanied by increased technostress for nursing staff, which in turn can be associated with health consequences. In addition, the use-related constant accessibility through ICT can have a negative impact on health-related recovery and regeneration phases. Health-promoting behaviors of supervisors can influence health complaints and conflicts between employees’ work and private lives. The present study investigates whether there is a corresponding relationship between digital stressors (technostressors) as well as health-oriented leadership and health outcomes among nurses.MethodsIn a quantitative online survey, hospital nursing staff (n = 243) was asked about techno-invasion, social environment, emotional exhaustion, work-privacy conflict and on the supervisors’ health-oriented staff-care dimensions awareness, value of health and health-oriented leadership behavior (HoL: awareness, value of health and health behavior). The associations of technostress, HoL and health outcomes were tested using regression analyses and performing a correlation.ResultsSignificant positive associations between techno-invasion and health outcomes had been found. Social environment was not (positively) significantly related to either emotional exhaustion or work-privacy conflict. Health-oriented leadership moderated the association between social environment and work-privacy conflict.ConclusionsThe results confirm the relevance of measures to reduce technostress and the importance of health-oriented leadership as a health-promoting resource. For practice, offers should be implemented for a balanced work and personal life of the nursing staff as well as establishing competence trainings for supervisors to learn and implement health-promoting behaviors. When technology use can’t be reduced, options could be created to ensure that nurses’ work and private lives become more balanced. These could represent mindfulness practices.

Who has the most to lose? How ICT demands undermine health‐oriented leadership

AbstractResearch shows positive effects of Health‐oriented Leadership (HoL) on followers' health. However, irritation elicited by ICT hassles may reduce leaders' capacity to engage in staff care. This study examines whether ICT hassles are associated with staff care (i.e., health‐promoting follower‐directed leadership) via irritation and whether particularly those engaging in self‐care suffer more or less from ICT demands. A moderated mediation model was tested at three measurement points (N = 582 leaders).As expected, results show more irritation for leaders with more ICT hassles which is further associated with less staff care. Moreover, the positive relationship between ICT hassles and irritation was stronger for leaders displaying high self‐care. In the same vein, the negative relationship between irritation and staff care was stronger for leaders engaging in self‐care.Findings provide the first evidence that ICT hassles are negatively related to staff care via leaders' irritation. Leaders who engage in self‐care show less irritation and higher staff care but suffer more from ICT demands. To promote leaders' health and staff care in digital working contexts, organizations should provide reliable IT equipment and technical support. The study ties in with research on digital leadership and its antecedents and offers a new view on the interplay of demands and resources.

Improving Well-Being and Fostering Health-Oriented Leadership among Leaders in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs): A Systematic Review.

Leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are often confronted with specific burdens, which frequently result in increased levels of stress. Leadership behaviour, in turn, has a significant impact on employees' health and performance. Using the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome (PICO) method, we conducted a systematic literature search covering publications from 2002 to 2023 using PubMed, PsycInfo and Business Source Premier on stress-reducing and well-being-improving interventions for SME leaders. The Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) Quality Assessment Tool was used to assess the methodological quality and risk of bias of the included studies regarding selection bias, study design, confounders, blinding, data collection, withdrawal and drop-out. Of the 3150 identified publications, 6 were included after screening. The studies varied in content (cognitive behavioural therapy [CBT]-based, psychoeducation, and mixed interventions) and approach (individual- and organisation-centred). Not all of the examined interventions provided significant outcomes. However, CBT-based and individualised approaches showed a positive trend in reducing SME leaders' psychosocial stress and improving their well-being. Despite the limited data, it can be concluded that such interventions are beneficial for leaders and their specific needs. Future research should focus on tailored approaches, derived from well-founded theories and integrative interventions addressing SME leaders.

SelfCare when working from home: easier but also more important

IntroductionTelework brings opportunities (e.g., flexibility) but also potential risks for health (e.g., fewer boundaries, constant availability). SelfCare could be a relevant work-related resource to reduce these health risks when working from home. SelfCare is part of the Health-oriented Leadership model and describes how individuals prioritize their own health, are aware of signs of stress, and actively promote their own health. In this paper, we postulate that telework enables more SelfCare at home, e.g., due to higher flexibility and autonomy. As SelfCare at home can be used more flexibly, it is also conceivable that the effectiveness of SelfCare increases the more employees work from home. Additionally, for hybrid working employees, the question arises whether SelfCare at both work contexts is distinct and makes an independent contribution to health and whether they even reinforce each other.MethodsOur hypotheses were tested in a longitudinal study with N = 727 employees from different industries. This study examined (1) the level of SelfCare on-site and at home (within- and between-person-effects), (2) the moderating effect of telework intensity on the effectiveness of SelfCare at home on health and performance indicators, and (3) direct and interacting effects of SelfCare at home and on-site for health.ResultsBetween- and within-person-differences show that SelfCare is more prevalent when working from home. Furthermore, SelfCare at home is related to less strain and health complaints as well as more relaxation and performance for individuals with higher telework intensity. SelfCare at home and on-site independently predict strain and health complaints and interact with regard to strain.DiscussionSelfCare appears to be more relevant with higher telework intensity and is thus an even more important health resource in the telework context. Organizations should provide continuing interventions and online tools to promote SelfCare among employees and leaders. Since little is known about the level and the effects of SelfCare in the telework context, these findings expand previous research on Health-oriented Leadership in the telework context.

Disseminating extra-role service behavior in the public sector: The effect of health-oriented leadership and work engagement

This study focused on health-oriented leadership (HoL), attempting to determine whether this new type of leadership affects extra-role service behavior either directly or indirectly (through work engagement). Data were collected from public employees working in the service sector in a province in Turkey through the convenience sampling method. The study hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling (SEM) using the SmartPLS software. The analysis findings have revealed that the perception of health-oriented leadership positively affects extra-role service behavior. Moreover, this effect was present not only directly, but also indirectly (through work engagement). The findings have also confirmed that health-oriented leadership is important in increasing public employees' engagement and extra-role service behaviors. Therefore, it was determined that health-oriented leadership brings positive outcomes in the public sector.

Health-oriented leadership communication matters: a trickle-down model to enhance employees' health and well-being during turbulent times

PurposeThis study explored how organizational leaders at different hierarchical levels may communicatively enhance employees' health and well-being. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, it proposed a model that connects health-oriented leadership communication at supervisory and executive levels with remote workers' self-care and stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachData collected through a survey of 363 full-time United States (US) employees were analyzed to test the model.FindingsResults showed health-oriented communication at the two leadership levels directly influenced employees' self-care, which in turn reduced their stress levels. Further, executive leaders' health-oriented leadership communication indirectly impacted remote workers' self-care through its positive association with supervisors' health-oriented leadership communication.Practical implicationsThis study offers much-needed guidelines for executive leaders, supervisors and communication practitioners seeking to meet employees' growing expectations for a healthy work environment in today's post-pandemic era.Originality/valueAlthough the literature has established organizational leadership as a vital determinant for a healthy workforce, few studies have explored leaders' health-specific communication to enhance employee health. This study is the first to conceptualize health-oriented leadership communication at dual hierarchical levels and uncover its influence on employees. The results suggested the importance of health-oriented leadership communication across hierarchical levels in building a healthy workplace.

How's the boss? Integration of the health-oriented leadership concept into the job demands-resources theory

PurposeHealth-oriented leadership (HoL) encompasses leaders' health behaviors and attitudes toward their followers (StaffCare) and themselves (SelfCare), and there is ample evidence of its positive effects on employee well-being. However, research on the antecedents of StaffCare is still in its infancy and does not account for within-person variability. Therefore, the authors adopt a leader-centered perspective and propose a serial mediation model that links leaders' intrapersonal fluctuations in job resources and demands to StaffCare, mediated by leaders' SelfCare, work engagement and emotional exhaustion.Design/methodology/approachOver five working weeks, 234 school principals responded to a weekly questionnaire, resulting in a total of 956 responses. Multilevel structural equation models were used for analysis.FindingsThe data supported SelfCare as a mechanism in leaders' motivational and health-impairment processes. The proposed serial mediation of the relationship between job resources and StaffCare via leader SelfCare and work engagement was also supported.Practical implicationsThe study can guide job redesign for leaders by highlighting the role of job resources. Investing in interventions aimed at the SelfCare of leaders is likely to have a positive impact on their leadership.Originality/valueThese findings suggest that job characteristics and the leader's well-being shape leader cognitions and behaviors. Therefore, the authors suggest integrating the HoL model into the job demands–resources (JD-R) model for leaders.

Violence Prevention Climate and Health-Oriented Leadership in German Emergency Departments.

Emergency departments (EDs) are high-risk environments for workplace violence. Research into techniques to prevent violence has less frequently explored the influence of leadership. This study aims to analyze the association of leadership with the prevention of violence using the concepts of health-oriented leadership (HoL) and the violence prevention climate (VPC). This quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted through online surveys between November 2021 and March 2022 across Germany. A sample of 370 doctors and nurses working in German EDs were recruited. Perceptions towards VPC and HoL were compared between groups divided according to profession and position using independent t-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests. Separate multiple linear regression models for supervisors and employees analyzed the association between different profiles of HoL with VPC. Supervisors and employees showed significant differences in supervisor staff-care and VPC. Regression analysis demonstrated that supervisors' self-care and employees' assessment of supervisor's staff-care positively predicted all dimensions of VPC. This empirical study provides insights into the variable perceptions of different groups and the association of leadership profiles with the perceptivity of VPC. The results of this study can be used to emphasize the importance of HoL training for both employees and supervisors to improve communication and health-promoting behavior.

Capturing the impact employees have on their coworkers and leaders: a holistic approach on health-specific support behavior from employees.

Support is a valuable resource for ensuring employee health in the workplace. However, research on health-specific support behavior (i.e., support specifically targeting concrete health aspects) has only concentrated on either leader behavior (e.g., healthy leadership styles) or support provided by employees for specific health issues (e.g., healthy eating or smoking cessation). Although the importance of employee health has been well established, the examination of a wider range of potential health-specific support behaviors from employees provided for their colleagues and leaders has been neglected. To understand employee health-specific support behavior, we adapted an existing health-oriented leadership questionnaire to cover support for colleagues (PeerCare) and their leaders (LeaderCare). Capturing the employee perspective with a sample of 347 employees, the results confirmed a delineation of health-oriented scales (factor, convergent, and discriminant validity). By testing health-specific support behavior processes at work, the positive effects of PeerCare on general health were demonstrated. Contrary to expectations, existing health effects are outweighed when leaders provide health-specific support behavior to their employees (StaffCare). However, the results imply that the health-specific support behavior practices of different actors reinforce each other: the effects of StaffCare and PeerCare enhance each other, and StaffCare has a strong influence on LeaderCare. Remarkably, SelfCare has a key role in this process. The open questions and implications regarding the effects of the different health-specific support behavior measurements are discussed.

Organizational health climate as a precondition for health-oriented leadership: expanding the link between leadership and employee well-being.

The link between leadership and employee well-being is long established. In particular, health-oriented leadership is discussed as a leadership style specifically promoting employee well-being. However, the preconditions of health-oriented leadership remain largely unexplored. From the perspective of conservation of resources theory, leaders can only provide resources when receiving some themselves. We propose that organizational health climate (OHC) is an important organization-based resource for a health-oriented leadership style. More specifically, we hypothesize that the relationship between OHC and employee job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion is mediated by health-oriented leadership. We thereby differentiate two levels of analysis: a within-team level and a between-team level. We examined 74 teams with 423 employees of childcare centers at three time points, each 6 months apart. By means of multilevel structural equation modeling, we found OHC to be a significant antecedent of health-oriented leadership at the between-team level. The relationship between OHC and employee job satisfaction was mediated by health-oriented leadership at the between-team level, but not at the within-team level. The relationship between OHC and employee exhaustion showed another pattern of relationships at the different levels of analysis, while it was not significantly mediated by health-oriented leadership. This indicates the value of differentiating between levels of analysis. We discuss the implications for theory and practice that can be drawn from our findings.

What difference does it make? A laboratory experiment on the effectiveness of health-oriented leadership working on-site compared to the digital working context

BackgroundHealth-oriented leadership (HoL) represents an important workplace resource for employees. However, as opportunities to work from home increase, the question arises, whether leadership is more or less effective in digital working contexts compared to working on-site.MethodsThe current research investigates, whether the effectiveness of health-oriented leadership in terms of staff care is influenced by the working context. In a laboratory experiment with a 2 (no staff care vs. staff care) x 2 (working on-site vs. digital) mixed design (N = 60), a moderating effect of the working context on the relationship between staff care and employees’ mental exhaustion, heart rate, heart rate variability, engagement and job satisfaction was tested.ResultsResults uncovered positive effects of staff care on employees’ mental exhaustion and work-related attitudes in both conditions (d = 1.09–1.91). As expected, the results indicate that the effects on employees’ engagement (d = 0.65) and job satisfaction (d = 0.72) are weaker when working digital.ConclusionFindings show that the effectiveness of staff care might differ between working on-site and working digital. In order to maintain the effectiveness of staff care, leaders and employees should keep regular face-to-face contact also when mainly working from home. The study ties in with research on digital leadership and leadership effectiveness, and contributes to the deeper understanding of situational contingencies of health-specific leadership during the process of digitization.

A study protocol outlining the development and evaluation of a training program for frontline managers on leading well-being and the psychosocial work environment in Danish hospital settings – a cluster randomized waitlist controlled trial

BackgroundHospital staff are often exposed to stressful psychosocial working conditions and report high levels of stress and burnout, which may negatively impact the safety of employees and patients. Managers hold unique knowledge of workplace conditions and needs of employees, but leadership interventions to improve the well-being of managers and employees in hospital settings are scarce. This study evaluates the effects of a leadership intervention based on a health-oriented leadership approach on the well-being and psychosocial work environment aspects of managers and employees.Methods/designThe study is designed as a randomized, waitlist-controlled trial with two groups (intervention and waitlist control group) and measurements at baseline, 6- and 12-month follow-up. We aim to include 200 frontline managers in Danish hospital settings and their approximately 5,000 employees. The leadership training comprises five full day modules and four smaller group-training sessions over a period of 5 months. The main aim is to improve stress, burnout, self-care, and perceived level of staff-care among managers and employees. Sickness absence will also be assessed at both manager and employee level. In addition, several psychosocial factors will be assessed at the employee level. A quantitative and qualitative process evaluation will also be conducted.DiscussionAction towards supporting the mental health of hospital employees is important to maintain a strong healthcare system. There is increasing recognition that best practice in workplace mental health requires an integrated approach that prevents harm and promotes positive mental health. There is also increasing understanding of the key role managers play in maintaining well-being within the workplace, however they often report a lack of knowledge and skills to promote employee mental health. The current leadership training program has been developed for frontline managers working in a hospital setting. The aim is to increase managers’ application of strategies to facilitate a healthy psychosocial work environment to benefit well-being and mental health among staff and managers themselves.Trial RegistrationThe study was retrospectively registered on November 21, 2022 in Clinical Trial.gov with identifier: NCT05623371.

Service Employees' Mindfulness and Job Crafting amid COVID-19: The Roles of Resilience, Organizational Health Climate, and Health-Oriented Leadership.

Due to changes in the work environment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, service employees' behavior, that proactively reshapes the content and meaning of work (i.e., job crafting), is increasingly important. We identified mindfulness as a key individual trait contributing to job crafting in the pandemic context. The purpose of our study was to examine the mediating effect of resilience on the relationship between mindfulness and job crafting, and the moderating effects of perceived organizational health climate and health-oriented leadership on the mindfulness-resilience relationship. We administered two-wave online surveys to 301 South Korean service employees after the onset of COVID-19 (January 20, 2020). Data for mindfulness, resilience, perceived organizational health climate, and health-oriented leadership were collected via participants' self-report in March, 2020. One month later (April, 2020), we obtained their self-ratings of job crafting. Results showed that resilience mediated the relationship between mindfulness and job crafting. The positive relationship between these two variables was more pronounced when perceived organizational health climate was high than when it was low. Perceived organizational health climate further moderated the indirect effect of mindfulness on job crafting through resilience.

Work-related stressors and coping behaviors among leaders in small and medium-sized IT and technological services enterprises

BackgroundOccupational health interventions for leaders are underrepresented in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). When creating and developing effective occupational health interventions, identification of the specific needs of the target group is regarded as an essential step before planning an intervention. Therefore, the aim of this study was (1) to examine the subjectively experienced work-related stressors of leaders in small and medium-sized IT and technological services enterprises, (2) to explore coping behaviors leaders use to deal with the experienced work-related stressors, (3) to investigate resources supporting the coping process and (4) to identify potentially self-perceived consequences resulting from the experienced stressors.MethodsTen semi-structured interviews with leaders in small and medium-sized IT and technological services enterprises were conducted. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed with content-structuring qualitative content analysis in accordance to Kuckartz.ResultsLeaders in small and medium-sized IT and technological services enterprises experience various stressors caused by work organization as well as industry-related stressors and other work-related stressors. To address the experienced stressors, leaders apply problem focused coping behaviors (e.g. performing changes on structural and personal level), emotional focused coping behaviors (e.g. balancing activities, cognitive restructuring) as well as the utilization of social support. Helpful resources for the coping process include organizational, social and personal resources. As a result of the experienced work-related stressors, interviewees stated to experience different health impairments, negative effects on work quality as well as neglect of leisure activities and lack of time for family and friends.ConclusionThe identified experienced work-related stressors, applied coping behaviors, utilized resources and emerging consequences underpin the urgent need for the development and performance of health-oriented leadership interventions for leaders in small and medium- sized IT and technological services. The results of this study can be used when designing a target-oriented intervention for the examined target group.

The shadows of digitisation: on the losses of health-oriented leadership in the face of ICT hassles

ABSTRACT Research shows positive effects of health-oriented leadership (HoL) on employees. However, the increasing spread of working from home may challenge leadership effectiveness. This study examines whether ICT hassles weaken the positive relationships between HoL and follower outcomes. Effectiveness of HoL was tested as perceived by employees while working from home for 1) employee exhaustion with an experimental vignette study (N = 138), and 2) employee strain and engagement in a survey with two measurement points (N = 214). Results provided evidence for lower exhaustion and strain, and higher engagement with more HoL. Results also showed higher exhaustion and strain, and lower engagement with more ICT hassles. Moreover, the relationships of HoL with employee outcomes were weaker with more ICT hassles. Findings provide initial evidence that HoL positively affects employees when working from home, but that its effectiveness may be impaired by technical issues. Findings suggest that in order to maintain the effectiveness of HoL while working from home, organisations must provide reliable IT equipment and technical support. The study ties in with research on digital leadership and leadership effectiveness and contributes to the deeper understanding of situational contingencies of health-specific leadership during the process of digitisation.