The Role of Leadership in Managing Occupational Stress

Authors

• Jasmeet Kaur
  Business and Management, Yorkville University, Concord, Canada

  jasmeetkaur.959@yorkvilleu.ca

  ORCID: 0009-0002-8339-3200

• DOI https://doi.org/10.63329/av3nz12311

Abstract

This study examines the critical role that leadership style plays in managing occupational stress within organizational settings. Occupational stress continues to be a major challenge across industries, with direct implications for employee health, job satisfaction, and overall productivity. Through a systematic literature review using peer-reviewed sources from databases such as Scopus, JSTOR, and Google Scholar, this study explores how various leadership styles—transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire—either mitigate or intensify stress among employees. Transformational leadership, marked by empathy, vision, and support, is consistently associated with reduced stress and greater psychological resilience. In contrast, autocratic and inconsistent leadership approaches often correlate with burnout and emotional exhaustion. Despite the growing body of literature, a gap remains in understanding how leadership styles interact with contextual factors such as organizational culture, industry type, and employee demographics. This research addresses that gap and emphasizes the importance of emotional intelligence, open communication, and leader-member exchange in buffering occupational stress. The findings have practical implications for leadership development programs, suggesting that stress-reducing leadership can be cultivated through targeted training and policy reforms. This systematic review synthesizes findings from 95 studies to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the leadership-stress nexus, offering evidence-based recommendations for both theory and practice.

Keywords: Leadership, occupational stress, consequences, transformational leadership, authentic leadership, systematic review

Copyright & License
© 2025 The Author.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.