**5. Discussion**

This study developed and tested a model to prove that leadership influences employee performance through organizational commitment. We were able to confirm all five hypotheses formulated in this research (see Table 3).

The findings of Hypothesis 1a confirm a significant impact of leaders' expectations of high task performance from their employees and are in line with previous papers linking leaders' high expectations with employees' extra-role behaviors such as high quality of work Farrukh et al. (2019). This demonstrates the importance of individual commitment to the organization in fostering employee high performance. Thus, we may testify that when a leader expects high levels of task achievement from his or her employees, the employees will reciprocate by being involved in the tasks that have been assigned to them.

We also confirmed that employees who have a positive relationship with their boss perceive organizational dedication to be beneficial for better levels of performance (Hypothesis 1b). Furthermore, if the leader has high expectations of their followers in terms of extra-role conduct while simultaneously demonstrating respect to their subordinates, employees will reciprocate by performing high-quality work. This outcome contradicts with the finding by Sutton and Woodman (1989) but, on the contrary, stays in line with the findings in the literature Redmond et al. (1993); Tierney and Farmer (2004); Tierney et al. (1999). These studies demonstrate that the Pygmalion effect may be used to understand employee performance, particularly when the performance criteria is based on high quality of job performance.

Moreover, the results also revealed a positive impact of organizational commitment impact on employee task performance (Hypotheses 2b and 3). Those employees who are committed with the organization yield higher productivity as compared to those who are less committed. We also observed that commitment to the organization mediates not only the relationship between leader-member exchange, but also the relationship between a leader's high expectation (Pygmalion effect) and individual's performance. The leader's high quality relations exchange, as a form of social exchange, generates positive emotions towards the organization in employees, but also generates obligations to the organization.

The results also showed that leader-member exchange (Hypothesis 2a) has a positive impact on employee performance, implying that the performance may be improved by creating a high-quality linkage. We already mentioned that a high-quality connection provides employees with a sense of belonging, independence and better self-esteem, which is reciprocated by employees in the form of extra-role behavior. A clear comprehension of each other's duties may be recognized as a result of a quality exchange link between employees and supervisors, resulting in a greater intention to perform work Atitumpong and Badir (2018).

#### **6. Conclusions**

Our study adds to the literature and practice in many ways. To our knowledge, this is the first study to look into how leader expectations (Pygmalion effect), leadermember exchange and organizational commitment affect employee performance. Also, although some proof of an association between leader-member exchange and employee performance existed in the literature Atitumpong and Badir (2018), no study examined this association with employee performance, a wide concept constituent of work intentions to perform tasks, excess work and high quality work. Hence, this is a one-of-a-kind contribution to the literature on leadership and performance enhancement. Furthermore, the majority of previous studies on performance have focused on leadership approaches rather than specifically on leaders' expectations (Pygmalion concept). This study broadens our understanding of leaders' expectations in fostering employee extra-role behavior Kierein and Gold (2000); Tierney and Farmer (2004): if employees view organizational commitment to be helpful, leaders' expectations will yield greater results.

Our findings also provide credence to the behavioral plasticity theory Brockner (1988). Employees may feel more valued in the company if they watch a leader's encouraging conduct; this may increase their self-esteem in the organization, prompting them to exert more effort to improve their productivity, especially when followers lack confidence in themselves. Employees with poor organizational self-esteem feel that their efforts would go unnoticed. According to our research, employees with low self-esteem are more impacted by their social circumstances than those with strong self-esteem. This point of view was supported by a number of other scholars as well Mossholder et al. (1981); Gardner and Pierce (1998).

Some of our findings rooting in leader-member exchange theory may be important for managerial purposes. First, we observed that a positive relationship between leaders and members would motivate employees and their interest in non-regular activities, because excess work, intentions to perform tasks and high-quality work are not always part of the official daily routine. As a result, we may recommend managers to cultivate a relationship based on mutual trust, encouragement, empowerment and respect, which may be rewarded with higher performance quality. Additionally, leaders or supervisors have to maintain a high level of interaction with their subordinates by holding frequent meetings for feedback and information exchange which stimulates and encourages subordinates to do highquality work. Furthermore, firms should encourage and educate managers on how to sustain a high-quality exchange connection by providing them with the required resources.

Our findings support the assumption that employees require a supportive atmosphere in order to execute extra-role activities, and we advise that leaders should pioneer the formation of a pleasant, supporting environment by providing necessary resources and time. Furthermore, our outcome shows that the presence of devoted subordinates increased the influence of leaders' expectations. As a result, we believe that leaders should set extrarole behavior standards for their followers while simultaneously generating an enthusiastic environment in which people desire to remain self-attached.

Although this work credits several significant implications for current theory and practice, a few limitations apply that hint to future research opportunities. We advise that consecutive studies should focus on longitudinal data collection methodologies to better understand the cased and effect connection, because the variables in this study are behavioral and perception-based which may not fairly assess more than one moment in time. Furthermore, because this study did not examine the influence of leader-member exchange and leaders' expectations on dimension level, we urge that future research may investigate this relationship at both the dimension and construct levels for a more comprehensive understanding. Finally, in our paper we tested the outcome for only a few cities, so we may propose testing the same model on a cross-sectional level to improve its generalizability.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, N.A.K. and S.M.; methodology, N.A.K.; software, K.S.; validation, N.A.K. and H.A.J.; formal analysis, N.A.K.; investigation, K.S.; resources, H.A.J.; writing original draft preparation, N.A.K. and S.M.; writing review and editing, K.S.; visualization, H.A.J.; supervision, S.M.; project administration, N.A.K.; funding acquisition, S.M. and K.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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