The social costs of leadership: Analyzing the impact of distributed leadership on women’s work-life balance: mediating role of work-family and family-work conflict

This paper investigates the impact of distrusted leadership on women's work-life balance, mediated by work-life and family-work conflict in Saudi Arabia. A purposive sampling technique was utilized to collect data from 260 women working in public and private institutions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied to test the hypothetical relationship between the key variables. Results reveal that distributed leadership significantly increases work-family and family-work conflicts, highlighting potential challenges in balancing work and personal responsibilities under shared leadership models. However, distributed leadership does not directly impact work-life balance, indicating the presence of other mediating factors. The study also confirms that work-family conflict and family-work conflict significantly affect work-life balance, emphasizing the adverse effects of these conflicts on overall well-being. Several limitations are acknowledged, including the study's cross-sectional nature, which limits the ability to infer causality, and the specific demographic focus on working women, which restricts the generalizability of the findings. The findings have practical implications, suggesting the need for clear role definitions and supportive organizational policies and social practices to relieve the negative impacts of distributed leadership on work-family dynamics, ultimately affecting women's work-life balance and social well-being.