Leadership matters in education. Strong leaders are needed to help institutions, systems, and societies change for the better. Strong leaders collaborate with other actors towards the same goals (UNESCO, 2024). School leadership involves steering educational institutions to achieve their goals, such as improving student learning and fostering a positive school environment (UNESCO, 2018). No one leadership style works. Different contexts, capacities and personalities mean that styles vary, and rightfully so. This, combined with each leader's different goals, means their impact is hard to assess fully (UNESCO, 2024). Leadership style could be seen as the leader's choice of ways of planning, leading,controlling, staffing and organizing resources in attainment of set goals (Jonathan Mshelia & Olukayode, 2022).

Headteachers need to master a large set of skills to play these roles. They need to be able to use data, prioritize, plan, implement, supervise and assess to solve problems (Bouchamma et al., 2020). They must communicate effectively to develop a shared understanding, mobilize teams around objectives and promote professional growth (Ramos-Pla et al., 2021). They need emotional intelligence, self-awareness, social awareness and self-regulation skills to build constructive relationships (Bouchamma et al., 2019). Headteachers also can deal with current age structure of teachers. The ageing of the teaching population raises the question of maintaining teachers' work ability. Work ability can be defined as aperson's ability to meet the demands of his or her job (Cadiz et al., 2020). Work ability is based on the balance between the worker'sresources and the job demands placed on him or her (Ilmarinen et al., 2005). This definition highlights an individual's capacity to fulfilrequired work tasks and effectively manage job demands (Ilmarinen et al., 1997). Work ability is a dynamic process influenced by variousfactors, including physical and mental health, functional abilities, qualifications, professional competencies, attitudes, motivation, workingconditions, job demands, and environmental factors (Tuomi et al., 2001). Managing work ability and wellbeing at schools requires, among others, leadership support and commitment, effective communication, employee health awareness and engagement (Shiri & Bergbom, 2023).

This paper discussed the different types of leadership styles and how they can be adopted for effective promotion teachers´work ability find an answer to the research question: How leadership affects the promotion of teachers' work ability.

The presented research is part of a project aimed at perceived work ability among lower secondary school teachers. Part of this project focuses on the headteachers' role and leadership in promoting teachers' work ability. Due to the aim of the research and research questions, we have used a qualitative approach. This research design provides a rich understanding of how teachers' work ability is promoted and allows us to capture the complexity and nuances of this process. The research sample consisted of 44 lower secondary school headteachers in the South Moravian Region and the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. The method of data collection was in-depth interviews. Before data collection, the interview protocol contained 80 open-ended questions was created. The interview questions were about the characteristics of the school, school climate and relations at school, professional development of teachers, teachers' health and lifestyle, competence and job requirements, work environment and wellbeing. The interviews were conducted during October and December 2023 and lasted approximately 100 minutes. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed into text form. Interviews were analyzed using computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software ATLAS.ti. Data analysis is based on the grounded theory of Charmaz (2014) and Corbin and Strauss (2014). First, open coding was performed, focusing on data fragments. In the next step, all units were categorized, and we tried to find relationships between the categories.

In the interviews, we focus on how headteachers perceived the concept work ability and how they deal with interventions which can promote or maintain teachers‘ work ability. The analysis shows that most headteachers prefer a leadership style that is open, supportive and focused on collaboration and well-being. Headteachers emphasize direct and open communication between teachers, parents and the headteachers. Headteachers try to protect teachers from negative influences and communication that could hurt them. They support teachers in their professional development and give them space for self-realisation. Headteachers believe in teachers' responsibility, giving them freedom to decide on teaching methods. They expect teachers to be accountable for their actions and results.Headteachers promote teachers' well-being and work ability and strive to create a pleasant and collegial working environment. Teachers can balance work and personal life and carry out indirect teaching activities according to their needs. The analyses also showed that minor differences can be observed in cooperation with the deputies, especially in the distribution area. The intensity of the cooperation and the division of roles is consequently reflected in the work demands of principals and their workload. Data also points out the differences between city and rural schools primarily on the issue of community involvement. Thus, rural school principals try to find a balance between the school's requirements and the expectations of the community and the principal. They aim to make the school run efficiently and benefit all stakeholders. On the other hand, headteachers view teaching as an individual profession. It is essential to point out that responsibility for promoting work ability lies not only on headteachers but is also an individual responsibility of teachers. Headteachers play a crucial role in setting the school environment and climate, but only with cooperation with the teachers can they promote their work ability.

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