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 organizationalgoals. 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.

Part 1: Setting the Foundation: Understanding the Role of Communication in Leader-Member, Peer, and Team Relationships

What is Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory?
Leadership and Communication: Demystifying the Steps to Success
Coworkers: Sources of Support or Relationships Gone Sour
Fitting into the Workgroup: Relationships within the Team
Part 2: Exploring the Various Intersections of Communication and Leadership
Leadership in Different Organizations and Sectors
Diversity and Ethics in LMX
Leadership and Context: Reading the Room
When Good People are Bad Leaders: When and Why Leadership Fails
Self-Reflection: Identifying the Leader in You
Closing Thoughts and Additional Resources.