Leading with Meaning: Investigating the Role of Leader Work Meaningfulness

Leaders are managers of meaning. A fundamental task of transformational leaders is to infuse employees' work with meaningfulness and shape employees' perception of work as positive and significant. However, we know very little about leaders' own work meaningfulness. In particular, further research is needed to answer the following questions: (1) How and when does leader work meaningfulness trickle down to follower work meaningfulness? (2) What are the key factors which determine leader work meaningfulness? (3) Which influences do leaders' aggregate quality and strength of work meaningfulness have on a firm's leadership climate and firm performance? (4) Does too much of leader work meaningfulness harm leaders' health and ultimately firm performance?