”Det är hela tiden en balans” : Hur chefer arbetar med hållbart ledarskap i en komplex vardag – ett samspel mellan handlingsutrymme och organisatoriska förutsättningar

Sammanfattning

This study examines how managers understand and practice sustainable leadership and how they perceive their managerial discretion in relation to organizational conditions in promoting employee health and well-being. The study adopts a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with eight managers within a private construction organization. The study draws on theories of sustainable leadership, managerial discretion, and institutional complexity. The findings show that sustainable leadership is primarily understood as a relational approach characterized by trust, presence, dialogue, and individual adaptation. Leadership is not described as a fixed model, but as something shaped through continuous prioritizations and adjustments in everyday work. The managerial role is characterized by high workload, multiple parallel processes, and recurring reprioritizations. Structure, support, resources, and trust emerge as important organizational conditions that may both enable and constrain sustainable leadership. Managerial discretion is similarly shaped by organizational conditions and available resources. The findings further suggest that sustainable leadership is not about achieving a stable balance between organizational goals and employee well-being, but rather about continuously managing competing demands and priorities. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of how sustainable leadership is shaped through the interplay between organizational conditions and managerial discretion.