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Leader’s Self-Insight 2.3 Getty Images

Your “LMX” Relationship

What was the quality of your leader’s relationship with 7. My supervisor championed
you? Think back to a job you held and recall your feelings my case to others in the
toward your leader, or if currently employed use your organization. _______ _______
supervisor. Please answer whether each item below was
8. I respected my supervisor’s
Mostly False or Mostly True for you.
management competence. _______ _______
Mostly Mostly
False True
Scoring and Interpretation
1. I very much liked my supervisor
LMX theory is about the quality of a leader’s relationship
as a person. _______ _______
with subordinates. If you scored 6 or more Mostly True,
2. My supervisor defended my your supervisor clearly had an excellent relationship with
work to people above him if I you, which is stage two in Exhibit 2.5. You had a success-
made a mistake. _______ _______ ful dyad. If your supervisor had an equally good relation-
3. The work I did for my ship with every subordinate, that is a stage three level
supervisor went well beyond of development (partnership building). If you scored 3 or
what was required. _______ _______ fewer Mostly True, then your supervisor was probably at
level one, perhaps with different relationships with sub-
4. I admired my supervisor’s
ordinates, some or all of which were unsucessful. What
professional knowledge and
do you think accounted for the quality of your and other
ability. _______ _______
subordinates’ relationships (positive or negative) with your
5. My supervisor was enjoyable supervisor? Discuss with other students to learn why
to work with. _______ _______ some supervisors have good LMX relationships.
6. I applied extra effort to further Source: Based on Robert C. Liden and John M. Maslyn, Multidimen-
the interests of my work sionality of Leader-Member Exchange: An Empirical Assessment
through Scale Development, Journal of Management 24 (1998),
group. _______ _______ pp. 43–72.

studies have found that leaders tend to categorize employees into in-groups and
out-groups as early as fi ve days into their relationship. 45
Thus, the third phase of research in this area focused on whether leaders could
develop positive relationships with all subordinates, not just a few “favorites.” The
emphasis was not on how or why discrimination among subordinates occurred, but
rather on how a leader might work with each subordinate on a one-on-one basis to
develop a partnership. The idea was that leaders could develop a unique, benefi cial
relationship with each individual and provide all employees with access to high-
quality leader-member exchanges, thereby providing a more equitable environment
and greater benefi ts to leaders, followers, and the organization.
In this approach, the leader views each person independently, and may treat
each individual in a different but positive way. Leaders strive to actively develop a
positive relationship with each subordinate, although the positive relationship will
have a different form for each person. For example, one person might be treated
with “consideration,” another with “initiating structure,” depending on what fol-
lowers need to feel involved and to succeed. Heather Coin, director of operations
for Calabasas, California-based Cheesecake Factory, emphasizes that developing a
personal, positive relationship with each employee is one of a restaurant manager’s
most critical jobs because it enables each person to contribute his or her best to the
organization. As a former general manager for several of the company’s restaurants,
Coin practiced what she now preaches in leading a team of 11 managers and dozens
of staff, helping keep turnover low and morale and performance high. 46

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