Leader-Member Exchange and Organizational Communication: Facilitating a Healthy Work Environment (New Perspectives in Organizational Communication)

It is hard to overstate the importance of the leader-member exchange relationship. Employees who share a high-quality relationship with their leader are more likely to earn a higher salary, climb the ranks more quickly, and report higher life satisfaction levels than their peers who have a less copasetic leader-member relationship. While Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX) research addresses the impact that the leader-member relationship has on the individual employee experience, much of this scholarship overlooks or obscures the vital role that communication plays in the development and maintenance of workgroup relationships. Much of extant literature also glosses over the role that communication plays in workgroup collaboration. Using a communicative lens, this text illustrates the complex theoretical underpinnings of LMX theory, such as the importance of social interaction and relationship building and maintenance necessary to achieve organizational goals. We explore how an employee's relationship with their leader also shapes their peer relationships and their overall standing within their workgroup. Further, the text examines the potential dark side of LMX theory, such as the tendency towards demographic and trait and state similarity. Employing a communicative perspective emphasizes the extent of position and personal power both leaders and members have in engineering the quality of the relationship they desire. Integrating and applying once disparate lines of academic literature, this book offers employees, students, and teacher-scholars pragmatic yet research-based insights into developing and maintaining successful, healthy workplace relationships. Leah M. Omilion-Hodges is Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Western Michigan University, USA. Her research fuses organizational communication with health communication, allowing her to explore questions that are relevant to academics and practitioners within applied communication contexts. Jennifer K. Ptacek is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Dayton, USA. Her research examines intersections of health and organizational communication, specifically in contexts of relationships in healthcare workplaces, stress and social support, leadership, and organizational identification Preface 7 Introduction 9 Contents 11 Abbreviations 13 List of Tables 14 Part I Setting the Foundation: Understanding the Role of Communication in Leader-Member, Peer, and Team Relationships 16 1 What is the Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) Theory? 17 First Things First: Why Do I Need to Know About Leader–Member Exchange and Organizational Communication? 18 What is the Leader–Member Exchange Theory? 19 Evolution of Leader–Member Exchange Theory 20 Vertical Dyadic Linkage Model 20 Leader–Member Exchange 21 Leadership Making 24 From Dyads to Groups 24 Why Does This Theory Matter to Me? 25 Looking up: Benefits of the Leader–Member Relationship 26 Potential Disadvantages of the Leader–Member Relationship 27 LMX and Power: How Relationships Flourish or Flounder 29 Sources of Power: The Potential to Influence the Behavior of Others 29 Legitimate Power 30 Reward Power 31 Coercive Power 32 Expert Power 32 Referent Power 33 Lost in Translation: How In-Group and Out-Group Members May Perceive Messages Differently 34 Leadership Moments: Takeaways for Leaders & Members 34 Mini Case Study: The New Employee 34 References 36 2 Leadership & Communication: Demystifying the Steps to Success 40 Leader–Member Exchange Theory is Rooted and Enacted via Communication 41 Relationships = Communication 42 Employees Are Savvy Discerners of Managerial Behavior 43 Addressing Organizational Obstacles with Communication 45 The Foundational Role of Communication 46 Making the Connection: Communication and Employee Engagement 49 Reading the Room: Context Matters 52 Communicating Through Muddy Waters: Communication Accommodation and Conflict Management 54 Conflict Between Leader and Member 57 Conflict Between Members 57 Conflict Between Leaders 58 Leadership Moments: Takeaways for Leaders & Members 58 Mini Case Study: “I Wasn’t Hired to Make Friends.” 59 References 60 3 Coworkers: Sources of Support or Relationships Gone Sour 62 LMX and CWX: How and Why LMX Affects Your Peer Relationships 63 The Impact of Peer Relationships 64 Benefits of Peer Relationships 65 Potential Challenges of Peer Relationships 67 Connecting Across Different Ages & Stages 68 Connecting in Competitive Environments 70 Developing and Disbanding Peer Relationships 71 Enhancing Peer Relationships 72 Ending Peer Relationships 75 Informal Leaders: Peers as Leaders in Training 75 Leadership Moments: Takeaways for Leaders & Members 76 Mini Case Study: “Relationships-First Culture” 78 References 79 4 Fitting into the Workgroup: Relationships Within the Team 84 LMX and TMX: How and Why LMX Affects Team Relationships and Functioning 85 Systems Theory 86 Group Roles 87 Advantages of Team-Member Exchange 90 Support, Helping Behaviors, and Employee Engagement 91 Ideation, Innovation, and Creativity 92 Potential Disadvantages or Challenges Associated with Team-Member Exchange 93 LMX Homophily: Building a Team That Looks and Thinks Just Like You 93 Leadership in Different Teams 96 Traditional, Face-to-Face, Leader-Led Teams 96 Virtual Teams 97 Co-lead Teams 98 Self-Directed Teams 98 Um, Who Is My Leader? 99 Leading in Some Teams and not in Others: Becoming a Boundary Spanner 100 Leadership Emergence 101 Leadership Moments: Takeaways for Leaders & Members 102 Mini Case Study: “Functional Group Roles” 103 References 104 Part II Exploring the Various Intersections of Communication and Leadership 109 5 Leadership in Different Organizations and Sectors 110 Organization Types 111 Non-profits 111 Healthcare 113 Education 116 Military 117 Start-Ups 119 Telework 121 Employee-Owned 122 Leadership Moments: Takeaways for Leaders and Members 124 Mini Case Study: “Going Virtual” 125 References 126 6 Diversity and Ethics in LMX 131 Diversity and Inclusion 132 Types of Diversity 135 Gender and Sex 135 Race and Ethnicity 136 Individualism and Collectivism 137 Power Distance 138 Uncertainty Avoidance 138 Age and Generation 139 Baby Boomers (Born 1946–1964) 140 Generation X (Born 1965–1980) 140 Generation Y (Born 1981–1996) 140 Generation Z (1997–2012) 141 Ethical Leadership 141 Implicit Bias 142 Recognizing and Challenging Your Own Biases 143 Recognizing and Challenging Organizational Biases 144 Leadership Moments: Takeaways for Leaders and Members 145 Mini Case Study: “These New Hires Seem Very...Similar” 146 References 147 7 Leadership and Context: Reading the Room 152 Contingency Theory: No One-Size-Fits-All 153 Tailored Communication 154 Choosing the Right Channel 155 Choosing the Right Time 158 Choosing the Right Message 159 Choosing the Right Response 161 Leadership Moments: Takeaways for Leaders and Members 163 Mini Case Study: “Trouble Connecting” 164 References 165 8 When Good People Are Bad Leaders: When and Why Leadership Fails 167 When Leadership Is Hard 168 Political Differences 169 Family Obligation Differences 170 Work Ethics Differences 171 Personal Differences 172 Framing Ideas Using Strategic Language 173 Conflict Style and Leadership 175 Leadership Moments: Takeaways for Leaders & Members 177 Mini Case Study: Building a Connection 180 References 180 9 Self-Reflection: Identifying the Leader in You 183 Leadership Traits 184 Leadership Styles 188 Transformational 189 Transactional 191 Charismatic 192 Servant 193 Laissez-Faire 194 Notable Leaders 196 Abraham Lincoln 196 Bill Gates 197 Eleanor Roosevelt 197 Ella Baker 198 Martin Luther King Jr. 198 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 199 Ruth Bader Ginsburg 199 Vision Statements 199 What a Vision Is and Isn’t 200 Examples of Vision Statements 200 Leadership Moments: Takeaways for Leaders and Members 201 Mini Case Study: “We Have Always Done Things This Way” 202 References 203 10 Closing Thoughts and Additional Resources 209 The Value of LMX 209 Critiques of LMX 211 LMX Takeaways 213 For Titled Leaders 214 For Employees 215 For Teacher-Scholars 216 LMX Resources 217 Background/Foundational Understanding 217 Communication Perspective/Functions 218 New Hires and Millennials 218 Diversity and Inclusion 219 Critiques 220 Measurement and Analysis Resources 220 References 221 Glossary 224 Index 228