LMX Theory

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What is leadership? Think of the last time you were asked to come together with peers into a group assigned to a specific goal; was there someone in charge of keeping the group on task and helping it towards the goal? This person is considered the leader, whose main job is to motivate and keep their selected members on task. Leaders develop different relationships with their subordinates based upon different levels and types of influence, known under the leader-member exchange (LMX) theory.

Often subordinates view their time working at a particular company through the tinted glasses of their time with their leader, and help explain why this idea of LMX theory is so important to the workplace. Leaders therefore employ various tactics to influence this view of the workplace and of themselves, both by giving certain guiding behaviors and by expecting certain behaviors returned to them.

Leader-Member Exchange Theory

Leader-member exchange theory (henceforth referred to as LMX theory) was developed by Graen and associates on the theory that leadership is based on mutual influence (Muchinsky, 2006). This theory dictates that leaders will differentiate their subordinates based on three different criteria; competence and skill, trustworthiness (especially when unsupervised) and their motivation to move up the ladder in the unit. By separating these subordinates into these categories, the leader can create an in-group and an out-group. Much like those commonly associated with Social Psychology, these are created with the intention of having the in-group aligned with the leader and the out-group kept at a distance.

Those in the in-group are expected to go above and beyond their normally assigned duties and both express an interest...

... middle of paper ...

... Cable, D.A. (2008). Employee resistance to

organizational change: Managerial influence tactics and leader-

member exchange. Journal of Applied Psychology. 93, 453-462.

Muchinsky, P.M. (2006). Psychology applied to work.

Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Maslyn, J.M., & Uhl-Bien, M. (2001). Leader-member exchange and its

dimensions: Effects of self-effort and other's effort on relationship

quality. Journal of Applied Psychology. 86, 697-708.

Sparr, J.L., & Sonnetag, S. (2008). Fairness perceptions of supervisor

feedback, LMX, and employee well-being at work. European

Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. 17, 198-225.

Sparrowe, R.T., Soetjipto, B.W., & Kraimer, M.I. (2006). Do leaders'

influence tactics relate to members' helping behavior? It depends

on the quality of the relationship. Academy of Management

Journal. 49, 1194-1208.

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