Mary Uhl-Bien

Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective

Abstract Research into Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory has been gaining momentum in recent years, with a multitude of studies investigating many aspects of LMX in organizations. Theoretical development in this area also has undergone many refinements, and the current theory is far different from the early Vertical Dyad Linkage (VDL) work. This article uses a levels perspective to trace the development of LMX through four evolutionary stages of theorizing and investigation up to the present. The article also uses a domains perspective to develop a new taxonomy of approaches to leadership, and LMX is discussed within this taxonomy as a relationship-based approach to leadership. Common questions and issues concerning LMX are addressed, and directions for future research are provided.

Leadership in complex organizations

Abstract This paper asks how complexity theory informs the role of leadership in organizations. Complexity theory is a science of complexly interacting systems; it explores the nature of interaction and adaptation in such systems and how they influence such things as emergence, innovation, and fitness. We argue that complexity theory focuses leadership efforts on behaviors that enable organizational effectiveness, as opposed to determining or guiding effectiveness. Complexity science broadens conceptualizations of leadership from perspectives that are heavily invested in psychology and social psychology (e.g., human relations models) to include processes for managing dynamic systems and interconnectivity. We develop a definition of organizational complexity and apply it to leadership science, discuss strategies for enabling complexity and effectiveness, and delve into the relationship between complexity theory and other currently important leadership theories. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible implications for research strategies in the social sciences.

Leader–member exchange and its dimensions: Effects of self-effort and other's effort on relationship quality.

Two hundred thirty-two manager-subordinate dyads provided data on the effort expended toward the development of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships, how such effort related to expectations about relationship quality, and intentions to exert future effort toward relationship development. For both managers and subordinates, higher quality LMX relationships were reported and expectations were met when the other member of the dyad put forth effort into relationship development. Ones own higher effort coupled with lower effort by the other was associated with a lower quality LMX relationship. Examination of the 4 dimensions of LMX (R. C. Liden & J. M. Maslyn, 1998) revealed unique effects depending on the dimension considered. In addition, LMX and relationship tenure interacted, showing that future effort toward relationship development was greatest when individuals had been in higher quality relationships for longer periods of time.

Reciprocity in Manager-Subordinate Relationships: Components, Configurations, and Outcomes

The present study examines both positive and negative norms of reciprocity in managerial work relationships by assessing three components of reciprocal behavior: immediacy, equivalence, and interest motive. The findings show that subordinate reports of immediacy, equivalence, and self-interest were negatively associated, and mutual-interest was positively associated, with relationship quality as reported by both subordinates and managers (other-interest was not significant). These components of reciprocity were also subjected to cluster analysis to identify groupings of reciprocity styles. The results indicate styles reflecting high quality (n = 65), low quality (n = 120), and negative social exchanges (n = 23). Analyses addressing reciprocity configurations and work outcomes showed that the higher quality exchange relationships had higher levels of perceived organizational support and altruism (but not commitment) than the lower and negative exchange groups, while only the negative reciprocity group showed lower levels of performance and conscientiousness as rated by the manager.

LMX AND SUBORDINATE PERFORMANCE: THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF TASK CHARACTERISTICS

Role conflict, role ambiguity, and intrinsic task satisfaction are found to moderate the relationship between leader–member exchange (LMX) and subordinate performance. Data from a field study of 146 supervisor–subordinate dyads indicate low conflict, high ambiguity, and high intrinsic satisfaction enhance the link between LMX and performance. Neutralizing effects are found when ambiguity and intrinsic satisfaction are low. High conflict appears to have a constraining effect, whereby the connection between LMX and performance is reduced but not neutralized. Results from the study call attention to the theoretical and practical benefits of examining the LMX/performance link from a contingency perspective, and offer a viable, albeit tentative, explanation for inconsistent findings reported in earlier studies.

Complexity Theory and Al-Qaeda: Examining Complex Leadership

(2003). Complexity Theory and Al-Qaeda: Examining Complex Leadership. Emergence: Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 54-76.

Subordinates' Resistance and Managers' Evaluations of Subordinates' Performance

The authors explored the validity of two perspectives as to how managers evaluate subordinates who resist downward influence attempts: a uniformly dysfunctional perspective (i.e., managers regard all manifestations of resistance as indicators of ineffective influence and rate subordinates unfavorably when they resist) and a multifunctional perspective (i.e., managers regard some manifestations of resistance as more constructive than others and rate subordinates more favorably when they employ constructive resistance tactics). The results of two studies provided support for an interactive model, which predicts that the uniformly dysfunctional perspective is characteristic of lower quality leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships and that the multifunctional perspective is characteristic of higher quality leader-member exchanges.

Ethical Followership An Examination of Followership Beliefs and Crimes of Obedience

This study seeks to “reverse the lens” in leadership and ethics research by investigating whether follower (rather than leader) characteristics are associated with intentions to engage in unethical behavior. Specifically, we examine whether followers’ beliefs about the coproduction of leadership and the romance of leadership are related to their willingness to commit a “crime of obedience” by complying with a leader’s unethical request. Using a vignette depicting an unethical demand by a leader, 161 working adults were asked to indicate whether they would obey or challenge the leader’s request. Regression analyses show that individuals with weaker coproduction beliefs demonstrate a stronger intent to obey unethical requests, whereas individuals with stronger coproduction beliefs demonstrate a stronger intent to engage in constructive resistance. This relationship is partially mediated by displacement of responsibility. Findings also identify an interaction between followers’ belief in the coproduction of leadership and romance of leadership, such that individuals with stronger coproduction beliefs who romanticize leaders reported a stronger intent to obey unethical requests. Results are discussed in relation to research on obedience to authority and burgeoning research on followership.

Towards operationalizing complexity leadership : How generative, administrative and community-building leadership practices enact organizational outcomes

Over five years ago, The Leadership Quarterly published a special issue on complexity to advance a new way of thinking about leadership. In shifting attention away from the individual to the organizing process itself, complexity added an important focus on process and context to leadership and management research. Yet, the complexity approach creates challenges for researchers who must combine or replace individual level constructs—like those built through surveys or factor analysis—with richer theories that investigate networked meso dynamics, multilevel phenomena, emergent processes, and organizational outcomes. To address this challenge, the present analysis draws on theoretical and empirical work over the last several years to identify five specific areas where complexity inspired research has led to new insights about the mechanisms that enable the organization to perform and adapt. It suggests propositions that describe how leadership and management, defined holistically, might activate complexity mechanisms to perform five essential organizing functions.

Relational Leadership and Gender: From Hierarchy to Relationality

We devote the next three chapters to developing an understanding of how leadership traits that were typically viewed as female, now form part of a broader leadership paradigm that is emerging within knowledge economies. This new leadership paradigm is called Complexity Leadership Theory. Though Uhl-Bien and her colleagues do not make specific reference to gender in their earlier papers, it is clear that their work offers important perspectives on the functioning of women within the complex adaptive systems that have come to characterize contemporary organizations. Uhl-Bien (2006:654–676) advances the “entity” perspective on leadership by including a “relational” perspective that describes leadership as socially constructed. This moves us beyond the age of “Great Man Theory” towards an acceptance of leadership as a social change process. Leadership hence becomes more about processes than about individualistic behavior. Uhl-Bien does not stop there however. With colleagues Marion and McKelvey (2007: 298–318), she places the relational perspective within the broader context of complexity leadership theory, and explains how the interplay between different leadership roles, which they refer to as administrative, enabling and adaptive, creates leadership opportunities for both men and women. These three essays form a critical bridge between those essays in this book that emphasize the unique capacities of women, and the broader perspective that these views of female leadership traits are also socially constructed and thus open to revision and change. Relational leadership becomes embedded in a broader leadership theory that allows us to see the traditional archetypes of male and female leadership as modes that emerge, shift and change within the complex dynamics of organizational life. This may allow both men and women to “shift gears”, and not find themselves hemmed in by gender stereotypes.