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Leader-follower relationships, Screenshot 2020-11-06 at 10.24.49 - Coggle…
Leader-follower relationships
Many theorists have turned their attention to the other half of the leadership dynamic, that of the follower
Understanding how different followers will react in various situations and to different leadership styles is important as it it those followers who will implement the leader's decisions and provide some of the information from which future decisions will be
In many ways the leaders success is dependent on their relationship with and characteristics of their followers
Follower types
Robert Kelley proposed five types of follower and classified them based on whether they were passive or active and whether or not they exercised independent and critical thinking
He argued that followers classed as Sheep would perform tasks assigned to them but would have no initiative to go the extra mile or take responsible
Those called as Yes People were servile and enterprising, being heavily reliant on leaders for their inspiration - weak managers and leaders often ally themselves with Yes People follower types of the detriment of the organisation
Alienated followers have independent and critical thinking that could make them effective but for some reason have become passive. This may be due to poor leadership or other circumstances which may have made them cynical. They may comply with leadership directives but do not display commitment
Survivors tend to to play it safe, adapting to change but not contributing to critical thought on the course the organisation will take
Kelley identified effective followers as
Managing themselves well
Being committed to the organisation and a purpose, principle or person outside themselves
Building their competence and focusing their efforts for maximum impact
Being courageous, honest and credible
Leader member exchange theory
Given that followers differ, a manager may not always treat their team members in the same way
They may have team members with whom they have developed a strong relationship: these team members are trusted, work hard and never let the manager down
Weak managers may favour unchallenging, servile followers
There may be others on the team who are held in less regard and the manager may treat these people different
LMX Theory explores how leaders and managers develop relationships with team members and followers explaining how such relationships can either contribute to growth or hold people back
LMX Theory suggests that as a result of time pressures, leaders prefer to work with a small number of trusted followers rather than including everyone
Managers often subconsciously allocate subordinates into either their In-Group or their Out-Group
Members of the Out-Group tend to have less access to the manager and often do not receive opportunities for growth or advancement
High quality LMX is a term used to describe healthy relationships between leaders and their folowers, these relationships exhibit mutual trust, support and respect
Low quality LMX tends to restrict the relationship to the task at hand and is characteristic of the out group relationship
Research has suggested that managers should make high quality LMX relationships available to all their employees rather than just the in group. Results showed dramatic improvement of subordinate performance in those who took advantage of the opportunity to develop a high quality LMX
Leader behaviours that can promote relationship building include showing trust, respect, openness, autonomy and discretion
Harris et al (2011) high quality LMX leads to job embedded ness which in turn leads to higher job satisfaction. Job embeddedness is a measurement of the extent to which people feel a part of their organisation
George Graen and Mary Uhl Bien (1995) discussed the development of LMX and their Leadership Making model, the model describes a process in which leader-member relationship lifecycle progresses in three phases
Firstly the
stranger
phase - leaders provide followers only with what they need to perform and followers behave only as required and do only their prescribed job
If a leader of follower seeks a closer relationship which is accepted by the other, the relationship then moves to
acquaintance
stage, categorised by increased social exchanges and the sharing of information and resources on a person and work level
Over time, as the leader and follower feel they can count on each other for loyalty and support, the relationship reaches the level of
mature partnership.
The relationship is at this stage both behavioural and emotional and characterised by loyalty, support, mutual respect and trust
