Healthy leadership - employee health as a management task

Leaders play a central role in promoting the health of their employees. They have a significant influence on the well-being and performance of the team by creating a healthy work environment and serving as role models. We will show you what healthy leadership involves and how you can implement it yourself.

What Does Healthy Leadership Mean and What Does It Involve?

Healthy leadership refers to leadership behavior that takes into account both the leader’s own health and the well-being of their employees. Its goal is to create a balance between performance and health. Through effective self-leadership, leaders must set an example of health-promoting behavior. Leaders need to recognize and manage their own health needs to prevent stress from affecting their employees.

Healthy leadership involves several key aspects:

• Healthy work environment
• Healthy working conditions
• Healthy working hours
• Avoidance of overload and stress
• Prevention of exhaustion and burnout
• Early detection of health-related warning signs

Why Is Healthy Leadership So Important?

Healthy leadership has both economic and personnel-related impacts on a company. Initial studies show that healthy leadership increases employee satisfaction, promotes higher productivity, and contributes to a better working atmosphere. When leaders pay attention to the health of their employees and create a work environment that prevents overload and stress, sick leave can be reduced, and overall well-being within the organization can improve.

In addition, health-promoting leadership can positively influence employees’ willingness to perform. Employees who feel supported and respected are more likely to give their best, contributing to better business outcomes.

Prerequisites for Healthy Leadership

The prerequisites for healthy leadership can be divided into two areas. On the one hand, company-related conditions are required to enable healthy leadership. On the other hand, leaders themselves must fulfill certain individual conditions to lead their teams in a healthy way.

Company-related conditions include:

Health culture: Describes whether health promotion and occupational safety are an integral part of the company culture.
Organizational support: Describes whether employees feel valued and whether their interests are recognized by the company.

Individual conditions for leaders include:

Leadership motivation: Describes whether a leader fulfills their role out of enjoyment and interest in the task (intrinsic motivation) or for instrumental reasons (extrinsic motivation). Intrinsic motivation is essential for healthy leadership.
Self-care: A healthy leader takes care not only of the well-being of the team but also of their own. They ensure they have enough time for rest and self-care to remain capable and healthy.
Empathy and compassion: Empathy is a key element of healthy leadership. A leader who understands the problems and needs of their employees and shows compassion can create a positive and supportive work environment.
Health culture: Describes whether health promotion and occupational safety are an integral part of the company culture.
Organizational support: Describes whether employees feel valued and whether their interests are recognized by the company.

How Leaders Can Promote Health

As a leader, you can play a key role in creating a healthy work environment. This includes recognizing signs of overload and stress, serving as a role model, and adapting your leadership style.

Recognizing Overload and Stress

Leaders should be able to identify signs of overload and stress in their employees at an early stage. Common symptoms include:

Physical complaints such as frequent headaches, sleep disorders, or back pain.
Emotional symptoms like irritability, exhaustion, or declining motivation.
Behavioral changes such as frequent sick leave, avoidance of teamwork, or decreasing performance.
Observation and open communication about health are essential to recognize symptoms early. Leaders should proactively approach their employees and establish a culture of conversation where health issues can be addressed without shame.

Setting an Example as a Healthy Leader

Leaders must also actively promote their own health to serve as good role models for their employees. By taking care of their own physical and mental health, they send an important message.

Self-care: Leaders should establish healthy habits such as regular exercise, healthy eating, and sufficient sleep. Only by staying healthy themselves can they effectively support their teams.
Stress management: Leaders should integrate techniques like mindfulness, meditation, or time management into their daily routines to control their own stress and prevent it from affecting the team.

Adapting Leadership Style

Leadership style has a direct impact on employees’ health. Leaders should adopt a supportive, respectful, and appreciative style that motivates employees rather than overwhelming them.

Participative leadership: By involving employees in decisions and valuing their opinions, they feel heard and respected. This increases engagement and well-being.
Constructive feedback: Instead of only pointing out mistakes, leaders should also recognize positive achievements. This boosts self-esteem and helps reduce stress.
Avoiding micromanagement: Leaders should trust their employees and give them the freedom to organize their work independently. Micromanagement leads to insecurity and unnecessary stress.
Leaders can actively integrate health-promoting practices into daily work:

Workload management: Ensure that employees are not overloaded and that their workload is realistic. Promote a healthy work-life balance by offering flexible working hours and remote work options.
Regular breaks: Encourage regular breaks during the workday. Even short breaks can boost productivity and help reduce stress.
Rest and relaxation: Provide opportunities for employees to relax during the workday, such as quiet retreat areas or company-sponsored yoga sessions.
Additionally, leaders should provide their teams with resources to support their health:

Stress management training: Offer regular workshops or seminars on topics like stress management, time management, and healthy communication.
Healthy work environment: Create a workplace that promotes health—for example, through ergonomic workstations, fresh air, access to healthy snacks, or pleasant office design.
Support for work-life balance: Help employees balance family, leisure, and work by offering flexible work models or special leave.

Healthy Leadership as a Success Model

With just a few targeted measures, leaders can not only improve their employees’ well-being but also foster a corporate culture where health is a central value. In doing so, they contribute to reducing sick leave while also increasing employee satisfaction and productivity in the long term.