Leadership Self-Assessment

180 LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE

LMX 7 Questionnaire

Instructions: This questionnaire contains items that ask you to describe your relationship with either your leader or one of your subordinates. For each of the items, indicate the degree to which you think the item is true for you by circling one of the responses that appear below the item.

1. Do you know where you stand with your leader (follower) . . . [and] do you usually know how satisfied your leader (follower) is with what you do?

Rarely Occasionally Sometimes Fairly often Very often

1 2 3 4 5

2. How well does your leader (follower) understand your job problems and needs?

Not a bit A little A fair amount Quite a bit A great deal

1 2 3 4 5

3. How well does your leader (follower) recognize your potential?

Not at all A little Moderately Mostly Fully

1 2 3 4 5

4. Regardless of how much formal authority your leader (follower) has built into his or her position, what are the chances that your leader (follower) would use his or her power to help you solve problems in your work?

None Small Moderate High Very high

1 2 3 4 5

5. Again, regardless of the amount of formal authority your leader (follower) has, what are the chances that he or she would “bail you out” at his or her expense?

None Small Moderate High Very high

1 2 3 4 5

6. I have enough confidence in my leader (follower) that I would defend and justify his or her decision if he or she were not present to do so.

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5

7. How would you characterize your working relationship with your leader (follower)?

Extremely Worse than Better than Extremely ineffective average Average average effective

1 2 3 4 5

Chapter 8 Leader–Member Exchange Theory 181

By completing the LMX 7, you can gain a fuller understanding of how LMX theory works. The score you obtain on the questionnaire reflects the quality of your leader–member relationships, and indicates the degree to which your relationships are characteristic of partnerships, as described in the LMX model.

You can complete the questionnaire both as a leader and as a subordinate. In the leader role, you would complete the questionnaire multiple times, assessing the quality of the relationships you have with each of your subordinates. In the subordinate role, you would complete the questionnaire based on the leaders to whom you report.

Scoring Interpretation

Although the LMX 7 is most commonly used by researchers to explore theoretical questions, you can also use it to analyze your own leadership style. You can interpret your LMX 7 scores using the following guidelines: very high = 30–35, high = 25–29, moderate = 20–24, low = 15–19, and very low = 7-14. Scores in the upper ranges indicate stronger, higher-quality leader–member exchanges (e.g., in-group members), whereas scores in the lower ranges indicate exchanges of lesser quality (e.g., out-group members).

SOURCE: Reprinted from “Relationship-Based Approach to Leadership: Development of Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) Theory of Leadership Over 25 Years: Applying a Multi-Level, Multi-Domain Perspective,” by G. B. Graen and M. Uhl-Bien, 1995, Leadership Quarterly, 6(2), 219–247. Copyright © 1995. Reprinted with permission from Elsevier Science.