To begin with, the leader-member exchange theory is a great example of how communication and emphasis on healthy horizontal relationships in a workplace improve over time. To better understand this approach to affectionate leadership, there is special terminology on various issues that can happen between the employer and their employees. Initially, the leader-member exchange differentiation divides the workers into two main communities. First, there is an in-group of enthusiastic people who are regarded as privileged in a workspace and who benefit from their active role from the inside. Second, an out-group is usually used to refer to people who have not made strong connections with the working communities; in comparison to the aforementioned group, they do not have any work-related leading advantages (Estel, 2019, p.1). Hence, modern social studies scientists, such as Lussier or Achua, analyze how people can make the workplace safer and more equal based on the real quantity and quality of the job without focusing on their artificial social benefits.
To my mind, it is quite complicated for a leader to establish a friendly, horizontally arranged environment with equal dynamics without avoiding particular out-groups of unprivileged people in the workplace. Indeed, the leader is in constant need of loyal, patient, and trustworthy members who are ready to be in close contact with the working community; such people are generally a part of the in-group. However, the present situation in the workspace shows that it is definitely possible to preserve a supportive relationship without the alienation of some ineligible members. Personally, if I was a leader, I would try to make everyone’s contribution seem valid and reasonable in order to maintain healthy and stable communication and a professional working environment.
In addition, I think that leaders should always care if some in-group members cause division of the working community because it is primarily a matter of professional efficiency and development. I am sure that leaders have to make everything in their power to prevent the process of alienating less privileged out-group workers and any hierarchies in the workplace. Therefore, the leader-member theory is key to understanding sufficient working relationships.
Work Cited
Estel, Vivien, et al. “LMX differentiation is good for some and bad for others: A multilevel analysis of effects of LMX differentiation in innovation teams.” Cogent Psychology 6.1 (2019): 1614306.