"Prior to beginning my doctoral studies at GCU, I knew that one of my key scholarly interests related to motivation, so I immediately began conducting research on this topic as I progressed through my regular coursework. By the time that I reached the dissertation phase, I had narrowed my focus to how leader verbal communication impacted follower job satisfaction. This had been the focus of several prior studies in motivating language theory and leader-member exchange theory. Over a year later, I had an epiphany while reading what I thought would be the final article for my dissertation. It led to a whole new search and totally changed the nature of my eventual focus. It was no longer merely about confirming what other authors had previously written concerning the influence of leader verbal communication on follower job satisfaction; it was also about exploring the possibility that follower job satisfaction could potentially influence the verbal l communication that a follower would use as a subsequent leader. Ultimately, my dissertation filled a theoretical gap in leader verbal communication research by uniquely examining the job satisfaction of a follower as a predictor of leader-follower exchange. It was an original idea. This idea will be the primary focus of my presentation in New Zealand."

Rob Koonce