BUS603: Managing People

In the present study, we expand prior research by investigating how leader mindfulness may be reflected in visible leader behaviors, which, in turn, are expected to positively affect employee satisfaction. Specifically, we draw on a communication perspective of leadership and propose that the answer can be partly found in how leaders communicate, as perceived by followers. In fact, leadership is inherently about influencing others and accordingly, the notion that communication is central to leadership is well established in leadership research. Organizational behavior researchers typically study leadership communication from a transmissional perspective, describing it in terms of "the intentional creation of messages with particular influence outcomes in mind". In particular, approaches of transformational and charismatic leadership have portrayed effective leaders as effective communicators, who convey an inspiring vision and high performance expectations to their followers. At the same time, research in this field has emphasized that the nature of leadership as an influencing process is neither leader-centric nor follower-centric but relational. That means that communication in leadership is not adequately conceptualized as a linear process, in which intentional messages simply flow in a straight and predictable line from the leader to the follower. Rather, leaders and followers continuously interact and communicate reciprocally. This is also reflected in the literature on LMX quality. Whereas high-quality relationships are characterized by cooperative communication, lower quality relationships reflect more traditional supervision with one-sided top-down communication, including higher levels of interpersonal dominance and autocratic decision-making. That being said, and given the inherent power differential associated with most leader–follower relationships, the way leaders shape their communication with followers is pivotal for fostering relationship quality and relevant work outcomes, such as followers' satisfaction, commitment, and performance. Based on this, we below develop the argument that mindfulness enables leaders to engage in a more successful communication style.