Deliberately expand your inner circle

Move team members from low-LMX to high-LMX through intentional relationship investment.

Why it works

Low-LMX relationships tend to be self-reinforcing: the leader invests less, the member delivers less, the leader trusts less. Breaking this cycle requires the leader to invest first — delegating meaningful work, seeking input, expressing confidence — even before the member has "earned" it through past performance. That investment, when genuine, generates a new performance cycle.

How to do it

1. Identify one or two team members currently in lower-LMX relationships and choose to invest in them deliberately.
2. Give them a meaningful assignment with real stakes, then provide genuine support — not oversight.
3. Check in about their development, not just their task progress.
4. Be patient: trust cycles take time to reverse, and the member may be skeptical of the change at first.

Evidence

Training studies show that leaders can improve LMX quality through structured relationship-building, and that improved LMX predicts subsequent performance and satisfaction gains. The mechanism aligns with the Pygmalion effect. Graen, Novak & Sommerkamp (1982) ran a controlled leadership-intervention field study in which raising exchange quality produced measurable productivity gains — direct evidence that the cycle can be started deliberately. (observational)

LMX training research is limited in scale and typically not widely replicated. Real-world application requires sustained intentional effort.

Sources

• Graen, Novak & Sommerkamp (1982), LMX training and subordinate outcomes, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance
• Graen, G. B., Novak, M. A., & Sommerkamp, P. (1982). The effects of leader-member exchange and job design on productivity and satisfaction: Testing a dual attachment model. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 30(1), 109-131.

Common mistake

Investing in a low-LMX relationship for a short burst, then reverting — which the team member experiences as more painful than consistent low investment because it raises then dashes expectations.