Leadership, Satisfaction and Commitment in Valencian Firms

This study examines how leadership relates to job satisfaction and organizational commitment in companies located in the Valencian Community, Spain. Its purpose is to understand how these three variables are experienced by leaders and followers in real organizational settings and to identify whether differences in perceptions of leadership may help explain weaker attachment to the organization. The study follows a qualitative design based on 95 in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted in five companies from different sectors, including retail, construction, manufacturing and professional services. The sample includes both leaders and followers, which allows comparison between how leadership is understood by those who exercise it and how it is experienced by those who receive it. To support the qualitative interpretation, a simple ordinal coding system from 1 to 3 was used only as a descriptive aid to organize recurring patterns and compare responses. The findings show a clear perceptual gap between leaders and followers. Leaders more often describe themselves as transformational, whereas followers more frequently perceive their immediate supervisors as more aligned with a laissez-faire style. Ethical and relational leadership receive the most favorable evaluations, while coaching, delegation and clarity of direction emerge as weaker areas. The results also suggest that active, close and coherent leadership is associated with higher job satisfaction and stronger organizational commitment, whereas passive or ambiguous leadership appears more often alongside frustration, weaker attachment and signs of withdrawal. These findings provide a grounded view of how leadership is experienced in everyday organizational contexts and point to practical areas for improvement for companies seeking to strengthen employee well-being, retention, and commitment.