Abstract

Title: Unveiling the Power of Self-Leadership - A Qualitative Exploration of its Role as a Resource Across Hierarchical Levels and its Influence on Stress Management and Work Engagement. 

Authors: Catharina Hämäläinen and Markus Melin Abrahamsson

Supervisor: Jean-Charles Languilaire

Background: Companies all over the world have been experiencing changes in the industries they are operating. It is previously shown that adapting to change is crucial for an organization to stay competitive and survive long-term. To adapt to change it has been shown by previous research that creating awareness, providing training, and setting favorable conditions for employees is important. Studies have also shown the occurring changes to impact employees' mental health, such as increased stress. A recent event that showed the impact of organizational change on employees' mental health was Covid-19. Studies have also shown the importance of stress management capabilities in changing organizations. One way to handle change and mitigate its negative impact on an organization’s employee, is by working with resources and capabilities. One resource that has been shown in studies to help manage stress and increase work engagement is self-leadership. 

Purpose: Explore to which extent the resource self-leadership is organized in the hierarchical positions of members within an organization and how self-leadership can affect the capabilities of stress management and work engagement within these hierarchical positions. 

Research question: How is self-leadership as a resource organized within the hierarchical levels of an organization, and how does it affect the capabilities of stress management and work engagement within these hierarchical positions? 

Method: This thesis is based on a qualitative approach conducted through a collective case study where six interviews have been conducted, split equally between two organizations. One top manager, one middle manager, and one Non-managerial employee within each organization. The study’s research approach is of inductive nature with some deductive elements, therefore, the study’s research approach as a whole is considered abductive. 

Conclusions: The conclusion of this study shows that self-leadership is organized at the top and middle managerial levels but not supported at the non-managerial level. It was also shown that when self-leadership as a resource is organized, it leads to stress management capabilities, however, it did not affect work engagement capabilities. This resulted in the conclusion that since self-leadership is organized at the top and middle managerial level it helps them in managing stress, but the lack of support for non-managerial employees resulted in limited stress management capabilities.