Influence of work-related stress factors on leadership practices at National Construction Authority, Kenya

Abstract

Lack of a conducive working environment results to stress and challenges in the practice of leadership. Work related stress factors makes leadership to be a cumbersome undertaking and this hinder productivity of an organization. The four objectives were; to establish the influence of job demands on practice of leadership, to evaluate influence of work life balance on practice of leadership, to assess influence of role ambiguity on practice of leadership and to examine influence of organizational stressors on practice of leadership. The study used descriptive research design. The target population was 423 employees. The study adopted simple random sampling technique in selecting 206 respondents from the entire population. The findings revealed that there is a strong positive relationship between work-related stress factors and practice of leadership, job demands had a positive relationship with leadership practice and undefined organization roles in job description jeopardizes a leader’s ability to execute tasks. Balancing personal and professional objectives fulfils a leader’s ability to practice leadership. The recommendations are; job descriptions should be clearly defined, mandated and stated well within the organization, Leaders to delegate certain tasks for them to focus on key tasks. Organizations to have well-articulated set of guidelines for them to reach a specific goal that is sustainable, measurable, attainable, reachable and time bound ensuring that leaders understand the external and internal aspect of how the organization work by providing a pleasant working environment to reduce experiences that lead to organizational stress, while at the same time create a thriving environment for leaders to continuously improve their performance and leadership skills.