"I that is we, we that is I”:The mediating role of work engagement between key leadership behaviors and volunteer satisfaction

Leadership styles offer relevant clues to the challenging issue of managing volunteers. In particular, we assume that leaders encouraging a collective dimension — such as communal identity, recognition, and trust — among followers can improve positive outcomes. The study aims to analyze the relationship between two key leadership behaviors and volunteer satisfaction, hypothesizing a mediating role of work engagement. The hypothesized relations were tested by using structural equation models in a group of 195 Italian volunteers. Results show that the two key leadership behaviors studied are positively associated to work engagement, which, in turn, is positively related to volunteer satisfaction. The relationships between the antecedents and outcome are totally mediated by work engagement. We explain our findings through the job demands-resources (JD-R) model. Training programs for leaders can be implemented on the basis of this study to enhance volunteers’ well-being