Transformational leadership and polychronicity as antecedents of work-home boundaries

Purpose - This paper aims to bring together leadership and boundary theories to conceptualize how transformational leadership behaviors and polychronicity might impact our life satisfaction through the boundaries we maintain around our work and home domains. It is argued that transformational behavior of the supervisor will be negatively associated with the strength of boundary that the followers construct around their home domain but will be positively associated with the boundary strength around the work domain. Additionally, it is posited that polychronicity will be negatively associated with the boundary strengths at home and at work but will be positively related with life satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach - The concepts of leadership, polychronicity and work-home boundaries are explained, and logical arguments are presented to develop a conceptual framework incorporating these constructs. Findings - The conceptual exploration of this study denotes that transformational leadership of supervisors would positively impact the life satisfaction of employees, directly as well as through the boundaries around their work and home domains. Specifically, transformational leadership behaviors of supervisors are expected to be associated with followers’ strong work boundaries but with weak home boundaries. At the same time, highly polychronic individuals are expected to keep weak boundaries around their work and home domains and to have higher life satisfaction. Research limitations/implications - The conceptualization of this paper focused on constructs that have not been linked before in one framework. As such, empirical research is suggested to validate the model. Practical implications - Understanding the antecedents of life satisfaction of employees is of crucial interest to managers at workplaces. It is suggested that managers should engage employees in co-constructing their work and home boundaries, with a view to increasing the life satisfaction of employees. Further, it seems possible that the hitherto prevalent practice of fostering strong boundaries at work may be hindering the well-being of employees. Social implications - Variables active at workplaces, such as polychronicity, also affect the non-work domain and, thereby, the life satisfaction of employees. Originality/value - Through this conceptualization, this paper has attempted to fill a gap in boundary management literature by linking transformational leadership of the supervisor to the work and home boundaries of the followers. This study also situates polychronicity as an important player in the work-home interface and life satisfaction of employees. This research links transformational leadership, polychronicity, boundary management and life satisfaction in one model. It thereby contributes to the leadership literature and extends the nomological network of work-non-work boundary management.