THE ROLE OF MANAGERS’ EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN PREVENTING TEAM BURNOUT IN BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract

The article examines contemporary scientific approaches to understanding leaders’ emotional regulation as a key psychological and organizational factor in preventing professional burnout within business organizations. Professional burnout is interpreted not solely as an individual psychological dysfunction, but as a complex systemic phenomenon shaped by leadership behavior, emotional climate, organizational culture, and managerial decision-making practices. Elevated levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced professional efficacy are associated with substantial organizational costs, including declining productivity, increased employee turnover, absenteeism, and reduced quality of managerial and operational decisions.

Within the domain of business psychology, particular emphasis is placed on the leader’s role as a central agent responsible not only for coordinating work processes but also for managing the emotional and psychological resources of the organization. Leaders establish emotional norms, model adaptive or maladaptive emotional responses, and influence employees through mechanisms of emotional contagion, social learning, and leadership modeling. In this context, emotional regulation is conceptualized as an operational core of emotional intelligence that enables leaders to manage stress, uncertainty, conflict, and emotionally demanding situations in a constructive manner.

Based on a systematic review and synthesis of recent theoretical and empirical studies, the article identifies key psychological and organizational mechanisms through which leaders’ emotional regulation affects employees’ emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and professional effectiveness. The findings indicate that emotionally regulated leadership behavior promotes psychological safety, trust, openness, and supportive interpersonal interactions within teams. Psychological safety is defined as a critical mediating variable that reduces emotional strain, facilitates open communication, and enhances employee engagement and resilience.

The article proposes a causal model illustrating how leaders’ emotional intelligence and emotional regulation foster emotional leadership, shape a positive organizational emotional climate, and contribute to lower levels of professional burnout and higher psychological well-being among employees. Emotional regulation is shown to perform both a managerial and a preventive function by buffering the effects of chronic stress and preserving employees’ emotional resources. Practical implications include recommendations for developing leaders’ emotional regulation at individual and organizational levels, highlighting its strategic significance for sustainable organizational performance, human capital preservation, and long-term competitiveness.