Poetic Metaphors in Written Leadership Communication: A Qualitative Experiment of Employees’ Sense-Making, Actions, and Emotions

Leadership communication has long been recognized as essential to build and lead teams. However, the role of poetic metaphors in written leadership communication, and their influence on employees’ sense-making, actions, and emotional responses, has been underexplored. This study investigates how poetic metaphors in Written Leadership Communication (WLC) influence employees’ sense-making, emotions, and actions, addressing a critical gap in leadership communication research. Using a qualitative experimental design, data was collected from a matched-pair sample in a multinational corporation via semi-structured micro-moment timeline interviews and analyzed using Strauss and Corbin’s Grounded Theory. Findings reveal that employees exposed to metaphor-rich WLC (experimental group) reported significantly higher levels of positive emotions—such as joy, awe, and inspiration—and reframed guilt as a constructive motivator, leading to enhanced positive and behavioral responses, compared to the control group who received straightforward WLC. By expanding Koelsch’s Quartet Theory of Human Emotions and Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions, this study shows how poetic metaphors in WLC deepen emotional resonance and function as framing tools within Klein’s sense-making model. Insights provide strategies for leaders to foster meaningful, emotionally resonant connections through metaphorical language. Future research could further investigate metaphor use across various leadership contexts and cultures and assess the efficacy of metaphor-rich WLC during organizational changes and crisis communication.