This study examined the influence of leaders’ communication styles and cultural intelligence on work engagement in Trinidad and Tobago. Primary data were collected from a quantitative survey of leaders and employees of the Judiciary. There were 23 leaders and 33 employee respondents. The demographic characteristics of the leader respondents were 20 females and 3 males. The majority, 35%, were between 41-50 and 57% ethnically self-described as African. A majority, 82%, were tertiary/university graduates with 48% attaining a master’s degree. The demographic profile of the employee respondents was similar: 26 females and 6 males. The majority, 37%, were between 41-50 and ethnically self-described as African, 55%. A majority, 70%, were tertiary/university graduates with 34% having attained a master’s degree.
Data were analyzed using two software tools: Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Excel presented the simple frequency tables for the demographic variables. SPSS provided the Correlations, Scatter Plots, ANOVA, Factorial ANOVA, and Linear Regression tests. The study set the alpha level = 0.05 (i.e. 95% confidence level).
The study’s conclusions confirmed earlier theories about the influence of leadership communication style on workers’ behaviours and provided evidence that the workers’ perceptions of their leaders’ communication styles are a strong predictor of their (employees) work engagement. It also showed that the communication style factors of preciseness and verbal aggressiveness were strongly related to work engagement. The results did not suggest any relationship between leaders’ self-assessment of their communication style or their cultural intelligence and employees’ work engagement. The results also concluded that there was no statistically significant relationship between leaders’ demographic characteristics and employees’ work engagement. The study’s findings led me to develop a proposal for leader capacity building for the judiciary’s middle managers titled “Engaging Team Conversations” comprising assessments, coaching, training, and small group leader-worker sessions.