Are Leaders Burned out During Organizational Change? An Emotion Regulation Study

ABSTRACT In this chapter, we examine the often-overlooked impact of organizational change on leaders’ well-being. While much research has focused on how change affects employees’ emotions, attitudes, and behaviors, relatively little attention has been paid to similar outcomes for leaders. We propose and test a model suggesting that leaders’ dispositional resistance to change and their attitudes toward change influence their well-being and risk of burnout. We also explore whether emotional regulation strategies and emotional intelligence play a role in shaping these outcomes. Drawing on data from 322 leaders with at least five years of experience in organizations undergoing change, we conducted a two-wave survey. The first survey assessed demographics, dispositional resistance to change, and emotional intelligence. The second, two weeks later, captured leaders’ attitudes toward the change, emotional regulation strategies, and indicators of health and burnout. Findings showed that both dispositional resistance to change and positive attitudes toward change predicted health and burnout outcomes as expected. However, emotional regulation strategies and emotional intelligence were not significantly associated with these outcomes. These findings highlight the unique emotional demands leaders face—often managing their own emotional responses while also regulating the emotional climate of others. We discuss possible reasons for the unexpected results, including contextual variables such as the nature and scale of the change, and consider implications for leadership development and future research.