The salience of remote leadership: implications for follower self-control and work-life balance

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine whether remote work moderates the mediated relationship between leadership behavior (transformational leadership and leader incivility), followers' self-control, and work-life balance. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a three-wave, time lagged study of 338 followers. Drawing on social information processing theory, a moderated mediation model was proposed: it was hypothesized that remote work strengthens the relationship between leadership behavior (transformational leadership and leader incivility), follower self-control, and subsequent work-life balance (moderated mediation). The theoretical model was tested using OLS regression in SPSS. Findings The results show that working remotely strengthens the mediated relationships between leadership behavior, self-control, and work-life balance. Practical implications Organizations need to consider the interaction between remote work and leadership. Leader behaviors have a stronger relationship with follower self-control and work-life balance when the frequency of remote work is higher, so it is important to increase transformational leadership and reduce leader incivility in remote contexts. Leadership training programs and respectful workplace initiatives should be considered. Originality/value This study demonstrates the importance of leader behaviors for followers' self-control and work-life balance in relation to remote work. This study is the first to examine the boundary condition of remote work in relation to leadership behavior, follower self-control, and work-life balance.