Why Your Engagement Sets the Tone for Your Team

As I've engaged in culture work throughout my career, I've seen a clear pattern. If you’ve ever noticed that your energy seems to set the mood for your team, you’re not imagining it. New research confirms that when leaders are engaged—focused, energetic, and committed—their people are far more likely to be engaged too.

In fact, studies show that leader engagement “crosses over” to employees. Teams led by engaged managers report higher motivation, stronger performance, and even greater long-term career success (Liu et al., 2025). It’s a powerful reminder that how you show up each day matters more than you might think.

It’s not just about personality—it’s about behaviors. For example, leaders who demonstrate tolerance for mistakes (framing them as opportunities to learn) see higher engagement among their people (Zhang et al., 2025). This reflects what psychologists call Affective Events Theory: your reactions to everyday challenges shape the emotional climate for your team.

The idea of “engaging leadership” brings these insights together. Engaging leaders inspire, strengthen, and connect with their teams. Employees under such leadership consistently report higher happiness, stronger trust, and lower burnout (Schaufeli, 2015; Rahmadani et al., 2020). And large-scale evidence backs this up: a meta-analysis across 86 studies found that positive leadership styles—transformational, authentic, empowering—have a strong, consistent impact on employee engagement (Christian et al., 2021).

The challenge? Gallup’s latest data shows that manager engagement has slipped to just 27% worldwide (Gallup, 2024). Since leader engagement is one of the best predictors of team engagement, this decline has serious implications for performance, retention, and culture.

So what can you do as a leader? Research points to a few practical steps:

• Model engagement. Be clear about priorities, celebrate progress, and show visible commitment—your energy is contagious.

• Foster connection. Make time for regular check-ins, recognition, and genuine conversations.

• Build psychological safety. Encourage learning by treating mistakes as part of growth.

• Invest in yourself. Leaders’ engagement depends on workload clarity, development opportunities, and support.

The evidence is clear: your engagement is one of the strongest levers for your team’s success. The most effective way to boost employee engagement isn’t through perks or programs—it starts with you showing up engaged, every day.

References

• Liu, Y. et al. (2025). Frontiers in Psychology.

• Zhang, X. et al. (2025). Frontiers in Psychology.

• Rahmadani, V. et al. (2020). Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.

• Schaufeli, W. (2015). European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology.

• Christian, M. et al. (2021). Meta-analysis, Journal of Applied Psychology.

• Gallup (2024). State of the Global Workplace.