Kim Woods Only (600 4.2)

Respond to each post with 150-200 words per post.

include 2 references per response.

Post #1

“The LMX 7 is designed to measure three dimensions of leader-member relationships: respect, trust, and obligation.” (Northouse, 2016, p.154) My scores as both a leader and follower were almost identical and they were high which indicates stronger, higher quality leader-member exchanges. The area where I scored the lowest as both a leader and a follower was in knowing where I stand with my followers/leaders. My weakness in this area is in soliciting feedback which is a hallmark of good leadership. While in both my civilian and military careers I get annual reviews, these are no substitute for regularly checking in to gauge how things are going. Ironically, my highest scoring area for both leadership and followership was in my confidence that my staff/leadership would stand by my decisions even in my absence. These two results seem counterintuitive, but I think a culture of loyalty has been built that might preclude leaving someone to hang out to dry even if they thought things might have been done a different way.

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Los Angeles, California: Sage Publications,

Post #2

With the leader member exchange (LMX) theory the focal point of the leadership process is centered on the interactions between leader and followers Northouse (2016). My results of the LMX questionnaire was a 28 which according to the scoring interpretation it is high in leader-member exchange. I think in my leadership challenge, it is important that my team and I have that mature partnership because I am asking them to make changes in process, and if we did not get along or did not have that partnership with each other, I would have a difficult time in getting them to do the job. They would still do the job because it is required of them but morale would be low. Because of the trust and mutual respect, we have for each other, this process would be easier for me to carry out because they would be open to understanding why the change and be more involved in this change because I trust in them to provide feedback and suggestions.

The strength is that I am open to feedback from staff and allowing them to be a part of the process. The challenges that I am facing is because this adds more to their already high caseloads, continued motivation and engagement throughout this process.

The Leader-member theory is one I like because according to (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995) LMX is both transactional and transformational as it begins with transactional social exchange and evolves to transformational social exchange. Which involves two important leadership styles.

Graen, G.B., & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995). Relationship approach to leadership: Development of the leadership-member exchange of leadership over 25 years. Leadership Quarterly, 6(2), 219 – 247.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Post #3

Leader-follower respect is something that is gained by demonstrating confidence, passion and follower engagement while treating everyone with dignity and respect. According to Whitehurst (2015) “When people respect you only because of your authority, they will give you the minimum effort” (para. 3).

After conducting the LMX Questionnaire, my relationship with my followers was very high indicating a stronger, higher, quality leader-member exchange (Northouse, 2016). When I conducted it as a follower to judge my relationship with my leader the score was extremely low identifying the relationship with my supervisor is poor. Challenges I face as a leader in regard to my leadership challenge is having a good working relationship with my subordinates, but not with my supervisor. Not receiving guidance from my supervisor does affect my leadership ability due to organizational goals changing and me not knowing until days or weeks later creating last minute guidance and huge change which truly wreaks havoc amongst my subordinates moral and motivation considering this occurs often. In the end, my challenge is not only with my subordinates, but my supervisor as well.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN: 978-1-4833-1753-3

Whitehurst, J. (2015, May 20). How to earn respect as a leader. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from https://hbr.org/2015/05/how-to-earn-respect-as-a-leader