Leader’s communication style, LMX and organizational commitment

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of a leader’s communication style (LCS) on the quality of interpersonal exchanges between leaders and followers (LMX), and how this translates into the employee’s affective organizational commitment (AOC), in the context of Peru. Design/methodology/approach An integrated model of six dimensions is used to measure LCS. Using multiple hierarchical regressions and the Preacher and Hayes mediation model, the study focuses on determining the direct and indirect effect of each of the dimensions on LMX and organizational commitment. Findings The dimension preciseness shows a significant direct association to AOC. Four dimensions are significantly related with LMX: expressiveness, preciseness and questioningness with a positive sign, while verbal aggressiveness records an important negative one. The same four dimensions show an indirect effect on AOC through LMX. Emotionality and impression manipulativeness do not record significant results. Research limitations/implications The research was carried out with a sample of 253 white-collar Peruvian professionals with high-level studies and managerial experience, which are not necessarily representative of the labor population. This research provides comprehensive evidence on how leaders’ communicative behavior may contribute to desirable outcomes such as employee commitment in a Latin American cultural context, although the findings may apply to other cultures. Practical implications This study contributes to clarify that each dimension of the LCS impacts differently on subordinate perceptions; leaders should understand this model and be able to make the necessary adjustments to their communication in order to obtain the desired results of leadership. The leader’s ability to communicate with a style characterized by expressiveness, precision, and questioning makes it easy to build high-quality LMX relationships for Peruvian employees. On the contrary, a communication style characterized by high levels of verbal aggressiveness may negatively affect subordinates, limiting the possibility of building high-quality LMX relationships. This, in turn, affects AOC of employees. Social implications This study is a contribution to clarify that each feature of the LCS has a different impact on the perception of the subordinate, for which the leaders should be trained to understand this model and be able to make the necessary adjustments to obtain the desired results of leadership. The leader’s ability to communicate with a style characterized by expressiveness, precision and questioning makes it easy to build high-quality LMX relationships for Peruvian employees. On the contrary, a communication style characterized by high levels of verbal aggressiveness will negatively impact subordinates, limiting the possibility of building high-quality LMX relationships. Originality/value The value lies in revisiting the construct “leader’s communication style” to turn it into an instrument for the exercise of leadership. It is a contribution in favor of leaders becoming aware that their own communication style constitutes an instrument of effective leadership and a lever to optimize the commitment of their collaborators toward the organization.

Transformational leadership and communication

“…Although communication plays a crucial role in management (Brown et al , 2019), we still lack a more subtle understanding of the communication tactics transformational leaders engage in and, more importantly, if such can be trained in the course of a two-day intervention. For orientation purposes, we draw here on the dual-level model of leadership (Kark and Shamir, 2002).…”

Health-Promoting Leadership and Leaders’ Listening Skills Have an Impact on the Employees’ Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention

“…Leaders' listening skills. The leaders' listening skills were measured with the Facilitating Listening Scale (FLS, Bouskila-Yam & Kluger, 2011). The FLS assesses the listening behavior of leaders from the employee's perspective.…”

“…The way in which leaders communicate with their employees can affect employees strongly. The leaders' communication at the workplace can improve the employees' work life, for example, respectful communication is related to higher organizational commitment and thus to lower turnover intention (Brown et al, 2019;Mayfield & Mayfield, 2007). How leaders communicate with their employees, depends on their mindset, which is reflected in their leadership behavior.…”

Examining the Moderating Effects of Work Unit Size and Task Analyzability in the Relation Between Leader’s Communication Style and Leader-Member Exchange

“…This trait is perceived when the leader communicates in an open, casual, informal, and frequent way without creating unnecessary barriers. His/her expressiveness is positively related to LMX ( de Vries et al, 2010 ; Brown et al, 2019 ). Considering that leaders have finite resources of time and availability to distribute their attention to all their workers, a larger WUS can reduce the opportunity and quality of contact with all the group members.…”

“…The message is presented in a concise, direct and relevant structure, without irrelevant content. Preciseness is positively related to LMX ( de Vries et al, 2010 ; Brown et al, 2019 ) since it favors the understanding of the task, the objectives, the expectations and the vision of the boss. In small groups, the leader’s message is received directly by the workers who have an even greater chance of obtaining immediate feedback from the leader himself.…”