Gabriella Kuráth

Department of Leadership and Organizational Sciences, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pécs, Hungary

kurath.gabriella@ktk.pte.hu

ORCID 000-0003-2279-5935

Trust and communication in the context of leaders and employees

Edit Bányai

Department of Leadership and Organizational Sciences, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pécs, Hungary

banyai.edit@ktk.pte.hu

ORCID 0000-0002-0639-726X

Norbert Sipos

Department of Leadership and Organizational Sciences, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pécs, Hungary

sipos.norbert@ktk.pte.hu

ORCID 0000-0001-8815-0027

Tímea Venczel-Szakó

Department of Leadership and Organizational Sciences, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pécs, Hungary

szakot@ktk.pte.hu

ORCID 0000-0002-2127-0187

Márta Konczos-Szombathelyi

Department of Leadership and Marketing, Faculty of Economics, Széchenyi István University, Hungary

kszm@sze.hu

ORCID 0000-0001-5248-7752 

Abstract. The article deals with the topic of communication and trust in leadership which affect the success of cooperation and organizational performance. The paper summarizes the theoretical basis of trust and communication and examines what leaders must do to develop them and achieve the expected results and outcomes. The study focuses on Zenger and Folkman’s model related to the two aspects of leaders’ qualities: warmth and professional competence. The empirical analysis is conducted on a dataset obtained from a Hungarian nationwide omnibus study where 999 responses were collected. The methodology is based on the application of Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Binary Logistic Regression. The research confirmed that trust and communication are significant factors of leadership success, whereas warmth is measured to have twice as much importance as professional competence in building the former two. This is the first study where the Zenger and Folkman’s model is controlled in a Central and Eastern European country in the context of leaders and employees.

Received: December, 2022

1st Revision: March, 2023

Accepted: July, 2023

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2023/16-3/9

JEL Classification: M1

Keywords: leader, trust, communication, warmth and professional competence, confirmative factor analysis