The COVID‐19 crisis brought numerous challenges to work life. One of the most notable may be the acceleration of digital transformation, accompanied by an intensification of e‐mail usage and related demands such as high e‐mail workload. While research quickly started to examine the implications of these changes for employees, another important group of stakeholders has been overlooked: leaders. We focus on leaders during the COVID‐19 crisis and examine how COVID‐19‐related work intensification links to leaders' e‐mail overload appraisal and finally exhaustion and transformational leadership, a leader behaviour especially needed in times of crisis. In a 5‐day diary study in September 2020, 84 leaders responded to daily surveys on 343 days. Results of multilevel analysis showed that perceived COVID‐19‐related work intensification was positively linked to worktime spent dealing with e‐mail and appraised e‐mail overload. E‐mail overload appraisal was positively related to leaders' exhaustion, but unrelated to their transformational behaviour. Day‐specific time spent dealing with e‐mail, however, was negatively related to transformational leadership. E‐mail overload appraisal mediated the relationship between COVID‐19‐related work intensification and exhaustion. Turning the focus on leaders during the COVID‐19 crisis, our study has important implications for the design of work of leaders in times of crisis and beyond.

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