6. Leader-Member Exchange and Followership Evolution  of  Dyadic  Theory      Dyadic  Theory      

• An  approach  to  leadership  that  attempts  to  explain  why  leaders  vary  their  behaviour  with  different  followers    

 • Concentrates  on  the  heterogeneity  of  dyadic  relationships    

 • Argues  that  a  single  leader  will  form  different  relationships  with  different  

followers      

• Leader  provides  support  for  follower’  self-‐worth      Dyad    

• Individualised  relationship  between  a  leader  and  a  follower  in  a  work  unit    

Dyadic  Leader  Relationships      Dyadic  Approach      

     

1)  Vertical  Dyadic  Linkage  (VDL)  Theory      

• Attempts  to  understand  how  leaders  create  in-‐groups  and  out-‐groups      

In-Group  

• Those  followers  with  strong  social  ties  to  their  leader  in  a  people-‐oriented  style    

 • Characteristics  include:  

 o Participate  in  important  decisions    o Greater  access  to  the  leader    o People-‐oriented  relationship    o High  mutual  trust    o High  exchange    o Two-‐way  loyalty    o Mutual  Influence    o Special  favours  from  leader    o More  likely  to  share  with  own  group  members  than  members  of  

other  groups    

Out-Group  

• Those  followers  with  little  or  no  social  ties  to  their  leader,  strictly  task-‐centered  relationship  

 • Characteristics  include:  

 o Managed  according  to  employment  contract  requirements  o Received  little  inspiration,  encouragement  or  recognition    o Task-‐oriented  relationship    o Low  exchange    o Lack  of  trust    o Not  much  loyalty    o Little  or  no  mutual  influence    

     

2)  Leader-‐Member  Exchange  (LMX)      

• The  quality  of  the  exchange  relationship  between  employee  (follower)  and  his  or  her  superior  (leader)  

 • Two  types:    

 o High  Quality  LMX    o Low  Quality  LMX  

 3)  Team  Building    

• Effective  leaders  should  aspire  to  establish  relationships  with  all  members,  not  just  a  few  special  individuals      

• Out-‐groups  are  significantly  less  productive      

• Leadership  in  Team  Building      

o Alleviating  Conflict/Obstacles    o Motivating  group  members    

 4)  Systems  and  Networks      

• Emphasized  creating  relationships  that  cut  cross  functional,  divisional  and  even  organisational  boundaries  rather  than  including  leaders  and  followers  in  only  a  limited  section  of  the  organisation    

• Leader  relationships  are  not  limited  to  employees,  but  include  peers,  customer,  suppliers  and  other  relevant  stakeholders  in  the  broader  community  

 LMX  Life-‐Cycle  Model      Stage  1      

• Leader  and  follower  conduct  themselves  as  strangers    

• Testing  acceptable  behaviour      

• Negotiating  the  relationships      

• Involves:    o Impression  management    o Ingratiation:  is  the  effort  to  appear  supportive,  appreciative  and  

respectful    

Stage  2      

• Leader  and  Follower  become  acquainted      

• Further  refine  their  roles      

• Mutual  trust,  loyalty  and  respect  develops      

• Relationships  that  do  not  move  beyond  Stage  1  tend  to  deteriorate      Stage  3:  Roles  reach  maturity    

• Mutual  commitment  to  organisation  • Consider  if  that  person  can  be  classified  under  n-‐group/out-‐group  level  

 Requirements  for  High-‐Quality  LMX    

• Follower’s  attributes      

• Leader  and  followers’  perceptions  &  behaviours      

• Situational  factors        Studies  show  that  a  favourable  LMX  Relationship  is  more  likely  to  exist  if:    

• The  subordinate  is  perceived  to  be  competent  and  dependable    • If  the  follower’s  attitude  are  similar  to  the  leader’s  • A  little  self-‐promotion:  the  effort  to  appear  competent  and  dependable    • Have  ingratiation  

 Summary  of  LMX  Model      

• Suggests  proactive  employees    

o Have  additional  valuable  characteristics      

o Show  initiatives  even  in  areas  outside  their  immediate  responsibility      

o Have  a  strong  sense  of  commitment  to  work  goals      

o Have  a  stronger  sense  of  responsibility      

o Influence  leaders  to  show  support,  delegate,  allow  discretion,  communicate  openly,  and  encourage  mutual  influence  

 

 Followership    

• Behaviour  of  followers  that  result  from  the  leader-‐follower  mutual  influencing  relationship  

 Follower      

• Someone  who  is  influenced  by  a  leader  • No  leaders  without  follower    • Many  characteristics  of  good  leadership  are  found  in  highly  effective  

followers    • Effective  leadership  requires  effective  followers    • Leadership  is  a  relationship  jointly  produced  by  leaders  and  followers    

 Traits  of  Effective  Followers      

• Competence    • Confidence    • Motivation    • Responsibility    • Proactive  inclination    • Independence    • Critical  thinking    • Supportive  of  leader  

 

Follower  Types    

   

Alienated Followers:

• Low  on  involvement,  high  on  critical  thinking  

 • Passive  behaviour  (not  participating  readily/actively)  but  independent,  

critical      

• Capable  but  unwilling  to  participate  in  developing  solutions  to  problems  and  decision  making    

 

Conformist  

• High  on  involvement,  low  on  critical  thinking      

• Not  active  in  critical,  independent  thinking  but  are  active  participants      

• “Yes  People”    

• Avoid  conflict      

• Carry  out  all  orders  without  thinking      

Passive Followers  

• Neither  high  on  involvement  nor  critical  thinking    

• Wait  for  the  leader  or  others  to  do  all  the  thinking      

• Does  not  get  involved      

• Lack  initiative  and  commitment  to  the  team      

• Requires  constant  supervision      

• Unmotivated  and  incompetent      

Effective Followers  

• High  on  involvement  and  critical  thinking      

• Take  risks  and  don’t  avoid  conflict      

• Do  anything  for  the  best  interest  of  organisation      

• Proactive    

• Committed,  innovative,  creative  and  hard  working      

Pragmatic Followers  

• Mixture  of  all  4  followership  styles,  depending  on  which  style  fits  the  situation    

• Knows  how  to  work  with  the  system  to  get  things  done      

• Often  seen  as  political      

 

Follower  Key  Influencing  Characteristics      

     

Power Position  

• As  more  and  more  employees  come  to  rely  on  a  particular  follower  or  information,  expertise  or  simply  because  of  his/her  personality,  the  follower’s  relative  power  position  increases    

• Followers  can  influence  another  follower  to  slow  down  performance,  file  grievances  or  even  sabotage  operations  –  which  can  hurt  leader’s  reputation  

 

Locus on Control  

• Is  on  a  continuum  between  an  external  and  internal  belief  over  who  has  control  of  a  person’s  destiny    

• Internal:  people  who  believe  they  can  control  their  own  destiny      

o Believe  that  they  can  influence  people  and  events  in  their  workplace    

• External:  people  who  believe  their  destiny  is  on  the  hand’s  of  fate      

o Believe  that  they  have  no  influence  or  control  at  work    

• Followers  with  internal  locus  of  control  prefer  a  work  environment  that  encourages  honest  and  open  communication  and  participation  in  decision-‐making.  

 

o Likely  to  be  influential  with  other  followers  than  those  with  external  locus  of  control  

Education and Experience  

• Not  all  followers  have  same  level  of  education  and/or  experience    

• Followers  with  valuable  skills  and  experience  may  be  able  to  use  their  expert  power  to  influence  other  followers  and  even  the  leader    

• Experienced  and  education  follower  can  be  much  more  influential  with  other  followers  than  can  the  leader  

 Delegation    

• Delegation:  is  the  process  of  assigning  responsibility  and  authority  for  accomplishing  objectives      

o Telling  employees  to  perform  task  that  are  part  of  their  job  design  is  issuing  orders,  not  delegating  

 • Delegating  refers  to  giving  employees  new  tasks    • Effective  delegation  requires  that  a  leader  should  carefully  consider  

several  factors  relating  to  the  task,  time  requirement  and  follower  characteristics  before  delegating  

 Advantage  and  Disadvantages  of  Delegation    

Advantages  

• Delegation  gets  task  accomplished  and  increases  productivity      

• Enables  leaders  to  mobilise  resources  and  secure  better  results  than  they  could  have  gotten  alone      

• Increased  performance  and  work  outcome    

Disadvantages  

• Managers  fear  that  employees  will  fail  to  accomplish  tasks    

• Managers  believe  they  can  perform  tasks  more  efficiently  than  others      

• Some  managers  don’t  realise  that  delegation  is  an  important  part  of  their  job      

• Some  don’t  know  what  tasks  to  delegate      

• Some  don’t  know  how  to  delegate  What  should  leaders  delegate?    

To Delegate  

• Paperwork    

• Routine  tasks      

• Technical  matters      

• Tasks  with  development  potential      

• Employees’  problems      

Not To Delegate  

• Personnel  matters    

• Confidential  activities      

• Crises      

• Activities  delegated  to  you  personally      Delegation  Model    

     Emotions  at  Work    

• Workplace  is  inherently  emotional      Emotion    

Step  1:    Explain  the  need  for  

delegating  and  the  reasons  for  selecting  the  employee  

Step  2:    Set  objectives  that  deFine  

responsibility,  level  of  

authority  and  deadline  

Step  3:  Develop  a  plan  

Step  4:    Establish  control  

checkpoints  and  hold  employees  accountable  

• A  mental  state  that  arises  spontaneously  rather  than  through  conscious  effort  and  is  often  accompanied  by  physiological  changes    

Emotional  Intelligence      

• The  subset  of  social  intelligence  that  involves  the  ability  to  monitor  one’s  own  and  others  feelings  and  emotions,  to  discriminate  among  them  and  use  this  information  to  guide  one’s  thinking  and  actions    

 Features  of  EI    

Social Identification and Feedback  

• Self-‐monitoring  serves  as  feedback      

Self-Awareness  

• Awareness  of  behaviours  and  ways  in  which  one  is  labelled      

Self Regulation  

• Understanding  of  social  expectations  of  one’s  actions  and  exercise  discretion  in  the  exercise  of  emotions    

 Basic  Abilities  of  an  EI  leader      

• Accurately  appraise  others  emotions  as  well  as  effectively  portray  personal  emotions      

• A  thorough  knowledge  of  emotions  i.e.  being  able  to  predict  emotional  reactions  in  various  scenarios      

• Recognition  that  emotions  are  useful  in  the  influence  of  the  behaviour  and  the  cognition  of  others  

 • The  ability  to  manage  emotions  used  in  directing  one’s  own  and  other’s  

own  emotions      

Summary  Questions    Question  1:  Describe  the  3  factors  whose  combined  effect  influence  LMX  relationships      

• LMX  relationships  can  be  influenced  by  the  combining  effects  following  3  factors:  

o Follower  Attributes:  Such  as  commitment,  trust,  respect  and  loyalty  will  influence  leaders  to  show  support,  delegate  more,  allow  followers  more  discretion  in  conducting  their  work  and  engages  in  open  communication  with  followers    

o Leader/Follower  perceptions  and  Self-‐Identities:  leader’s  first  impression  of  a  group  member’s  competency  plays  an  important  role  in  defining  the  quality  of  the  relationship      

o Situational  Factors:  such  as  managerial  resources,  leader’s  span  of  control  and  relationship  life-‐cycle  stage  do  influence  the  type  of  LMX  relationship