Abstract
In change management literature, leaders are primarily depicted as executors of change rather than recipients of change who might also experience affective responses. This study empirically explores leader’s affect in change processes grounded in affect-based circumplex of change recipients’ responses to change (Oreg et al., 2018). Through four case studies, we found empirical evidence that in reality, affective experiences by leaders are not as neatly categorizable as put forward by Oreg et al. (2018). We found leaders could concurrently experience affect of both positive and negative valence, and both high and low activation. Incongruities between leaders’ experienced affect and affect as observed by employees suggest the presence of emotional labor, highlighting the affective regulations leaders need to engage in while navigating roles of both executor and recipient of change. These affective regulations are influenced by role perception and stress. Plus, leaders' affect seems to influence employees' affect.