The Political leader's motivating language use and his perceived effectiveness: The case of Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to explain the usage of Motivating Language Theory (MLT) in the Indian PM Narendra Damodardas Modi's monthly radio address to the nation known as Mann Ki Baat (Speech of Heart). The various facets of motivating language (ML) used by the Indian Prime Minister are correlated with leader effectiveness. To study the relationship between three components of ML (i.e., direction giving, empathetic and meaning‐making language) and the followers' perception of leader's effectiveness, the ML scale and Leader Effectiveness scale were used in a survey. The structural equation modelling revealed that the theoretical framework that was constructed for this article had a reasonably good fit. This indicates that Modi has been using the ML (which comprises direction giving, empathetic, and meaning‐making language) to a very effective scale and thus increasing his leadership effectiveness.