Optimizing Job Performance: Exploring the Leadership Paradox in Health Care.

Abusive supervision remains a critical challenge in the health care settings, significantly affecting the emotional well-being and performance of nurses. The study investigates how abusive supervision indirectly impacts job performance through emotional exhaustion. This study further examines whether servant leadership can reduce these negative impacts. Grounded on leadership theories of leadership and occupational stress, the study employed model 7 of the PROCESS macro to analyze a sample data 306 nurses from public hospitals in Quetta. Findings reveal that while abusive supervision does not reduce job performance, it significantly increases emotional exhaustion, which further negatively impacts job performance. Moreover, servant leadership moderates this relationship by improving the psychological burden caused by abusive supervision, thereby lessening its adverse effects on nurses’ well-being and work outcomes. However, the protective influence of servant leadership is partial it reduces, but does not entirely eliminate, the destructive consequences of abusive supervision. These finding highlights the pivotal role leadership styles in shaping employee resilience and performance, particularly in high stress environments, like health care. By aligning with sustainable development goal 3 on ensuring good health and well-being in workplace, study advocates strategic intervention that prioritize servant leadership that encourage leaders to shift from authoritarian control to a more supportive and empathetic approach can contribute to a healthier, more engaged, and higher performing nursing workforce.