Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and indirect crossover effects of leaders’ exhaustion on followers’ somatic complaints by testing leaders’ health-oriented behavior toward employees as a possible underlying mechanism.
Design/methodology/approach: A two-wave online study using data from different sources was conducted. In a sample of 106 leaders and followers, leaders were paired with one or two followers. Leaders rated their level of exhaustion at Time 1, and followers rated their leaders’ health-oriented leadership behavior (i.e. StaffCare behavior) and their own level of somatic complaints three months later (Time 2).
Findings: Results provided evidence of an indirect crossover effect from leaders’ exhaustion to followers’ somatic complaints through StaffCare behavior. There was no direct crossover effect.
Practical implications: Findings suggest that organizations should attend to leaders’ health as a means to allow for StaffCare behavior and thus protect employee health.
Originality/value: StaffCare behavior represents a new concept that focuses on health-related aspects of leadership. This is the first study to take an in-depth look at the question of how this leadership behavior is tied to crossover from leader exhaustion to follower heal