The COVID-19 pandemic toppled daily life on a scale not seen in decades. Almost all industries and sectors were severely affected by this unprecedented crisis. Leaders and organizations worldwide faced tough decisions while responding to the complications of operating during the pandemic. The educational sector was not exempt from this unprecedented scenario. The schools could continue operating while protecting their teachers and students by transitioning to remote-work arrangements and virtual classes. This unanticipated and rapid transition to virtual classrooms further stressed teachers even as they battled with the adverse effects of Covid-19 in their personal lives. These teachers, the direct or indirect victims of the pandemic, required a humane leader who could lead them with compassion amidst these volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, and trying times. With teacher stress at an all-time high and increasing uncertainty about the future, strong and compassionate leadership becomes crucial to navigate through these times of crisis and the like. Concerning school principal's compassionate leadership in times of crisis, researchers are yet to thoroughly study its conceptual and empirical relationships with teacher attitudes, behaviours, and performance. Although evolving research addresses the outcomes of compassionate leadership, less is known about how and when compassionate school principals impact teachers’ desirable work attitudes and behaviours. Accordingly, this study presents a broader theoretical framework of how a school principal’s compassionate leadership influences teacher work attitudes and job performance. Mainly, it investigates the relationships between school principals’ compassionate leadership as perceived by their teachers and the teachers’ work attitudes, such as resilience, work engagement and psychological well-being, and job performance. Here, we draw from trust, positive emotions, and self-efficacy theories to describe the mechanism by which school principals exercise their influence on teachers’ work attitudes and job performance. Furthermore, trust in the leader is speculated as the boundary condition of the relationship mentioned above. Finally, implications for future research and compassionate leadership practices at schools will be discussed.



Keywords: Compassionate leadership; School principal; Teacher; Positive emotions; Trust; Self-efficacy; Resilience; Work-engagement; Psychological well-being; Job performance