Empowered to Lead: The Relationship between Leadership Practices, Teacher’s Burnout, and Work Performance

This study examines the relationship between leadership practices, burnout, and work performance among public school teachers in an urban district, employing a mixed-methods design. 100 respondents completed a researcher-made survey to assess transformational, instructional, collaborative, decision-making, problem-solving, professional, and ethical leadership practices and their influence on teacher burnout and work performance. Additionally, interviews with 10 participants explored leadership challenges, coping mechanisms, and perceptions of effective leadership. Data analysis employed descriptive statistics and Pearson’s r correlation to determine the strength and significance of relationships. Results show that teacher leadership practices exert a strong positive influence on work performance, with mean scores between 3.28 and 3.62 across key leadership dimensions. Despite experiencing emotional exhaustion and workload stress, teachers generally demonstrate resilience, maintain positive attitudes, and sustain professional commitment without perceiving themselves as fully burned out. Qualitative findings highlighted challenges such as role conflict, lack of support, resource limitations, resistance to change, and work overload, which teachers manage through collaboration, reflective practice, professional development, and adaptive strategies. Based on these results, a comprehensive empowering leadership framework is proposed, integrating a collaborative, supportive leadership environment and clear and open communication to enhance teacher well-being, reduce burnout, and improve work performance and commitment. Implementing this framework in educational institutions is strongly recommended. It provides strong administrative support and continuous evaluation, which together promote sustainable teacher leadership and positive educational outcomes.