Page 99 - Biobehavioral Resilence to Stress

76 Biobehavioral Resilience to Stress

how followers appraise the situation in which they fi nd themselves, the
choices they consider making in response, the way they implement their
decisions, and the way they evaluate the effectiveness of their actions.

Table 4.3 suggests that leader qualities (e.g., credibility and insightfulness)
and leader actions (e.g., persuasive explanation) can direct followers’ own
assessments (e.g., their cognitive appraisal, decision-making, etc.), onto
paths that are identical to that of the leader. This ensures that followers

see the situation as the leader does, perhaps to better appreciate the seri-

ousness of the group’s position, while also offering hope that a successful
resolution is possible.
Similarly, the leader can help followers to identify new courses of action
(obvious to the leader) by directing their decision-making processes. Line 3 of
Table 4.3 continues this idea of followers’ respect for the leader’s judgment and

direction permitting the leader to influence followers’ performance processes
(improvised methods and means considered). Finally, line 4 of the table brings
the resilience creation process of one stress cycle to a close and conceivably
starts another. Of course, the process of resilience creation remains highly
similar to the process of resilience facilitation, with the exception that when
a leader creates resilience, his or her assessments and evaluations are much
more directive and, especially, pivotal to group functioning.

Specifi c Issues

In the following sections, we examine several specific and more narrowly
focused issues in the area of leadership and resilience. One of these is the
relationship between style of leadership and its likely impact on followers’
mental health and, by implication, upon followers’ resilience. Another con-
cern is the leader’s potential to create or foster resilience through training.
Finally, we consider the leader’s ability to encourage broad use of specifi c
coping mechanisms associated with resilience.

Leadership Style, Social Support, and Mental Health

Several recent studies and reports (e.g., NATO RTO, 2007) highlight the
importance of leadership style as an influence on resilience and mental health

outcome. Leaders who empower and provide support for their workforce
enhance their employees’ sense of personal control and prevent alienation

(e.g., Burke et al., 2006). This is important to the extent that factors such

as control and alienation may affect mental health outcome aft er exposure
to stress. Regeka, Hill, and Glancy (2000) studied fi refighters who had been

exposed to tragic events on the job and found that those who perceived they
had low personal control and felt alienated from others were more likely to

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