Leader-Member Exchange.

 

Many of us experience leadership, either as leaders or followers, as personal relationship between a leader and a subordinate, rather than a group phenomenon. We interact daily with our managers and forge an individual relationship with them. As leaders, we do not experience the same relationship with all of our followers. Each dyadic relationship is different. A leader establishes a one-on-one relationship with each follower, and each relationship varies greatly in terms of the quality of the exchange. Some followers are part of in-group, some are in the out-group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In each exchange, the leader and follower establish a role for the follower. Those followers with a high-quality relationships are in the in-group. High quality LMX involves mutual respect, anticipation of deepening trust, and expectations of continued and growing professional relationships and obligations. In-group followers enjoy their leader´s attention, support, and confidence, and receive challenging and interesting assignments. The leader might overlook control, or recognize their contributions to a greater extent and reward them more. In exchange for the in-group status, the followers' role is to work hard, be loyal, and support the leader. They are likely to work beyond their formally prescribed job duties and increase their commitment to their goals.

 

For the members of the in-group, such a high-quality exchange often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and leads to a high performance, high satisfaction, and low stress.

 

The followers in the out-group face a different situation. The leader might perceive them as less motivated or less competent, interact with them less, provide them with few opportunities to perform, and promote them less often. Their role tends to be limited to that defined by formal job descriptions, with little or no expectation of high performance, commitment, or loyalty. They often have to find ways of compensating for the low-quality relationships they have with their leader. Regardless of whether the leader's perception and expectations are accurate and fair, members of the out-group are likely to live up, or down, to them. As a result, out-group members who have a low-quality LMX will perform poorly and experience more stress. They also file for grievances more often and are more likely to take retaliatory actions against the organization.

 

The relationship between the leader and each follower forms early. Additionally, leaders create positive relationships with three types of followers: those who are competent and show relevant skills, those whom they can trust, and those who are willing to assume more responsibility. Culture can also play a key role in how in-group membership is assigned and which of these three factors is given more weight. In achievement-oriented cultures, such as United States. and Germany, individuals are evaluated based on their performance and achievement, rather than on their past or their membership in certain castes. Therefore, it is expected that leaders select their in-group members based on competence, performance, and commitment to the organization, rather than based on their personal relationship. Anything else would be called favoritism and nepotism. As a result, formal human resource policies and procedures, as well as day-to-day personnel practices, in such cultures focus on fairness, equal opportunity, and hiring those who are most qualified for the jobs based on their personal competence.