Physician burn-out, transformational and servant leadership.

Background: Physician burn-out was associated negatively with physicians' health, patient outcomes and healthcare system performance. Reducing physician burn-out may potentially benefit physicians and patients, improve healthcare performance and reduce societal healthcare costs.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between transformational and servant leadership behaviours and physician burn-out.

Methods: A cross-sectional, non-experimental quantitative correlation study was conducted using scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Global Transformational Leadership Scale and Servant Leadership Behaviour Scale-6-item Short Form. The data were obtained by an online survey of physicians working at a metropolitan hospital in Australia.

Results: 82 physicians participated in the study. The result showed significant correlations between transformational and servant leadership and lower physician burn-out, particularly in supporting fellow physicians' personal accomplishments, a burn-out construct (Pearson r=0.42 and 0.32, respectively). Among the constructs of transformational leadership, leaders who are clear about their values and demonstrate them in their actions correlate strongly with the constructs of burn-out. In servant leadership behaviours, helping subordinates generate meaning out of everyday work was the most influential factor in fellow physicians' burn-out. The finding may be related to the effects of observing the positive values and actions of their supervisor and the physicians' own understanding of the value of their work.

Conclusions: A positive role model and the meaning of everyday work could be protective against physician burn-out. Positive role modelling and mentorship may be relevant in physician supervisor training. Encouraging physicians to discover meaning from their everyday work may help to promote physician well-being.