Leadership Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Performance: The Mediating Role of Workplace Relationships and the Moderating Role of Leader Personality
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2026-02-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
In this study, the researcher examined how workplace relational quality (the quality of an employee's
relationship with their manager; leader-member exchange or LMX) mediated the association between
leadership emotional intelligence (EI) and organizational performance. We also looked at how individual
differences in managers' personality traits (i.e., the "Big Five") would moderate the association between
leadership EI and organizational performance. A theoretically grounded and empirically tested moderated
mediation model was constructed based upon social exchange theory and the theory of LMX. A sample of
400 employees from 3 large private companies in Ethiopia provided data for the study. These companies
included Get-As International PLC, Dugda Construction PLC, and Habesha Cement Share Company (S.C.)
(hereafter referred to as "the companies"). Leadership EI was measured by use of Wong & Law's Emotional
Intelligence Scale (WLEIS); workplace relationship quality (LMX) was measured using the LMX-7;
organizational performance was measured using a balanced scorecard adapted to local conditions; and
personality was measured by use of the Big Five Inventory - Ten Item Version (BFI-10). Our results indicate
that EI has a significant effect on both LMX and organizational performance. That is, H₁ indicated that EI
had a positive effect on organizational performance (β = .502, p < .001). Also, H₂ indicated that EI had a
positive effect on LMX (β = .829, p < .001). Finally, our results demonstrated a significant and positive
correlation between LMX and organizational performance (H₃: r = .433, p < .001). The mediation
hypothesis (H₄) could not be supported due to high multicollinearity between EI and LMX (r = .829).
Finally, among the Big Five personality traits, only Openness to Experience moderated the EI –
performance relationship (H₅e: β = −2.685, p = .039). Overall, these findings support the idea that EI is
strategically important for developing effective management teams within the Ethiopian private sector.
Description
Keywords
emotional intelligence, leader-member exchange, organizational performance, Big Five personality, moderation, mediation, Ethiopia, private sector