How Leaders' Family Matters Impact Employee Trust, Engagement And Performance

Forbes

22-07-2025

MODERN FAMILY - Gloria (Sofia Vergara) and Phil (Ty Burrell) shown on a kiss cam at a Lakers game. ... More (Photo by Michael Desmond) Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
The world watched and rewatched how the personal lives of two Astronomer leaders were shattered on the jumbotron of a Coldplay concert in just a few seconds. Social media seized the opportunity to publicly chastise the two, speculating how the CEO and Chief People Officer ruined their marriages. But beyond their family lives, leaders' actions outside of work have implications for their work. They have an impact on critical employee performance indicators.
Leaders are often looked up to, and in their role, they can inspire others to show their best selves at work. That is, if they set the right example. Exemplary behavior does not stop at the office door. Social media, remote work, holiday parties (and for some, jumbotrons) allow employees a peek into the personal lives of their supervisors. All these cues together determine the image they have of their leader. Leaders can use this to their advantage if they consistently portray a positive image. Here is why that image matters, along with additional ways in which leaders' family lives impact followers.
Earlier this year, Development Dimensions International released the Global Leadership Forecast 2025. The data comprise responses from over 12,000 HR professionals and leaders from 2,014 organizations worldwide. The first issue they bring to the reader's attention is a global leadership credibility crisis – trust in immediate managers declined from 46 percent in 2022 to a low of 29 percent in 2024. Trust in senior management is not much higher, with only a third of employees finding their senior management credible.
Trust is a willingness to be vulnerable toward someone else because you expect that the other person has positive intentions. Trust in the workplace implies, for instance, that you share critical information with your boss because you believe they will honor confidentiality. It could also mean that you are willing to stay late to fix a problem, because you trust that your boss will pay you back with recognition or a promotion. If trust is lacking, employees are not willing to do their part – they are reluctant to share vital information, work late, or volunteer their expertise. And without that effort, performance falters.
Professors Jixia Yang from the City University of Hong Kong and Kevin Mossholder from Auburn University surveyed 210 employees and their supervisors. Their study found that employees who trusted their supervisor more not only performed better but also helped others at work. Those who had more confidence in senior leaders showed a greater commitment to the organization. Trust thus pays off, as employees deliver better jobs, go the extra mile, and remain loyal to the company.
Whereas trust at work is partly built on how leaders behave on the work floor, their behaviors off the job have become more visible in recent decades. A study led by Professor Nancy Rothbard of the University of Pennsylvania, using data from approximately 2,000 American adults provided by the Pew Research Center, found found that 66 percent of Facebook users are friends with colleagues. What supervisors post on social media, including political views and family activities, influences their reputation at work.
Remote work offers another window into our personal lives. A video that went viral six years ago showed a mom scrambling to get her children out of dad's office, while dad tries to keep a straight face during a BBC interview. Since the pandemic, children walking into a video call is hardly newsworthy anymore. But glimpses into family life and how they are handled all matter in how we evaluate colleagues. These bits and pieces of information together determine how trustworthy we find a leader.
In the case of Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot, integrity was at (dis)play. Mockery quickly flooded social media channels as the irony of an HR manager setting an example of dishonesty did not escape many. Employees expect that their leaders behave ethically. Ethical leader behavior can switch on the moral compass of followers. Addison Maerz, Assistant Professor at California Polytechnic State University, and Madelynn Stackhouse, Associate Professor at University of North Carolina at Greensboro, investigated how ethical leadership can deter or encourage employees to engage in deviant behavior such as pilfering company materials and concealing errors. Employees' natural tendency to act with fairness and honesty was activated when they worked for more ethical leaders. Employees with ethical leaders were more aware of what behavior was, versus what was not, morally acceptable, and they were less likely to deviate from that norm.
The public outcry against leaders who cross a moral boundary serves as a poignant reminder that leaders are judged both on and off the job. As research illustrates, the moral example leaders set is telling others at work how seriously the company takes its ethical standards. If you want honest employees, you need honest leaders. Leaders' Family Lives Can Motivate Employees
Whereas the kiss cam scandal offers a catchy story for leadership mishaps when work and family get tangled, most days, family seeps into leadership in less dramatic ways. It can be as simple as arriving at the office in the same mood we left our home. Although some leaders try to separate work and family actively, we don't always have control over our mood. Together with Professors Jarrod Haar and Maree Roche, I examined if leaders' family lives influenced how they led at work. In this study, published in Personnel Psychology, we surveyed 199 leaders and 456 followers across multiple weeks. We found that leaders who frequently experienced conflicts between work and family exhibited negative moods at work and were less available to employees. Followers were sensitive to a less approachable leadership style and reported more burnout symptoms. The reverse was true as well. Leaders with rewarding family lives reported better moods at work. Followers caught on to these positive vibes and felt more engaged at work. What happens in the homes of leaders can thus significantly impact how inspired employees feel at work. Being mindful of how you arrive at work and investing in a happy family life can therefore pay off in double – both at home and at work.
If anything, the kiss cam video offers valuable lessons for leaders. Employees thrive under leaders they trust, leaders who behave ethically, and leaders who bring positive energy to the workplace. As family lives become more visible in the digital era, leaders will need to be aware of how their personal lives impact their credibility as leaders.