Paper Title
THE INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP AND LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION ON EMPLOYEE AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

Abstract
Abstract - The importance of organizational performance in strategic management research has been emphasized by many scholars. Performance measurement, both at individual and organizational level, however, remains problematic in both practice and academia as a result of the complex relationship between work motivation, performance and productivity. Research has indicated that besides motivation, productivity is influenced by a variety of components which include the employee’s ability, skills, training, and availability of resources, management practices and economic conditions. Various studies have played important roles in acknowledging that organizations, which combine processes and people with their intangible assets such as skill and competence, motivation, leadership styles and culture, have an additional source of sustained competitive advantage for the improvement of employee and organizational performance. The aim of this article is to understand the impact of leadership and leadership communication on employee and organizational performance.This study made use of a positivistic research paradigm and a causal research design. The results of the study reveal that management communication has a moderate impact on employee performance whilst leadership has an insignificant impact on employee performance. Management communication has a strong impact on organizational performance whilst leadership has a relatively small impact on organizational performance. There is a moderate impact of employee performance. These results demonstrate that management communication in general has a higher impact on employee and organizational performance than leadership. These results open the door for further studies regarding the challenges posed by leaders in organization and why some leaders are referred to as “disconnected leaders”. Keywords - Employee Performance, Corporate Performance, Leadership; Leadership Communication.