Emotional Resilience, Leadership Styles and Employee Performance in Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA- Uganda)

Abstract

Utilizing a sample of 338 employees from Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) this study explored the influence of emotional resilience, leadership styles on employee performance in the KCCA, with a view to bridging the gaps identified in the previous related literature and empirical study. The study was guided by three objectives, that is, to find out the influence of emotional resilience (emotional awareness, perseverance, optimism, internal locus of reference, sense of humour) on employee performance, to establish the influence of leadership styles (transactional, democratic, autocratic, consultative) on employee performance and to establish the influence of emotional resilience on leadership styles. This study employed convergent parallel mixed methods design which consists of the collection or analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study in which the data are collected concurrently or sequentially, are given a priority, and involve the integration of data at one or more stages in the process of research (Kothari, 2004:5). Using the designs from both quantitative and qualitative paradigm helped augment survey and interview data. Using Pearson correlation coefficient and the interview data the key findings are: emotional reliance is strongly associated with employee performance; a combination of transactional and transformational leadership has strong influence on employee performance; and finally, leadership behaviours are significantly influenced by emotional resilience. The study recommends that KCCA adopts a deliberate structured approach to developing employee emotional resilience and focus on skilling leaders on transactional-transformational behaviours. Certainly more research is needed on the topic.