The effect of leadership styles and emotional intelligence on employee job satisfaction & performance

While there is no one definition of leadership, there is no one set of characteristics that define an effective leader, as it can vary depending on the situation and context. However, a leader has a direct impact on employee work outcomes, making it crucial for organizations to search for effective leaders. To find the best leaders in recent times and conditions, this thesis aims to examine leadership qualities that influence positive employee outcomes. As a unique approach, the study includes the quality of relationship between leader and follower (LMX) as a moderator. The study aims to identify effective leadership traits in the Turkish business environment, which has experienced major political and economic changes recently. Several regression analyses were conducted on a group of employees and managers in Turkey, who were mostly highly educated and working on different industries. Results of the first stage of the research were consistent with many previous studies. We found that a higher transformational leadership style and transactional leadership style of a leader were positively related to employee satisfaction and performance, respectively. However, a higher emotional intelligence (EQ) of a leader was only partially related to employee performance. The results show that EQ is one aspect of leadership traits and is not sufficient on its own to influence positive employee work outcomes. The study also found that LMX plays a compensatory role for low transformational leadership. Overall, the results of this study can help organizations and leaders make informed decisions about leaders to influence positive employee outcomes.