discussion

What did you find to be compelling and enlightening? What other advice do you have to give in your current or experience.

Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory examines the manner of interactions between leaders and followers by looking at their dyadic relationships (Northouse, 2018). A dyadic relationship is a relationship of interaction, or in this case, a committed “working” non-emotional relationship. Northouse (2018) wrote “It makes the leader–member relationship the pivotal concept in the leadership process” (Ch. 7). Friendship is a relationship between individuals built upon emotion and is on a personal level. Knowing your staff personally is important as it develops positive aspects of engagement, but it is different than having a personal relationship in the form of a friendship with your staff.

Some leaders and/or followers that cannot have very personal relationships with their coworkers, and is this good, bad, or neither? Why?

With LMX we know that leaders treat the in-group differently than they treat the out-group. Leaders know that they can rely on the in-group to get the job done, so they go to this group more often.  Leaders empower this group. The caveat to this is that it be unjust to the members of the out-group and can cause more division in the department or organization. Leaders should not have personal relationships in the form of friendships with any of their followers as this can cause even more division, possibly in the in-group and/or the out-group and can then lead to decreased productivity and engagement (Chen & Weng, 2018).