Week 5: Theories in Action

In one of my previous blog posts about leadership theories in action, I was able to relate the leaders at my internship site to Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory. After spending more time working at my internship, I have also been able to see the connection with the Leader- member Exchange Theory (LMX). This theory was first developed in 1975 and is based on the idea of focusing on the interactions between a leader and their followers. One way in which this approach differentiates itself from others is that it challenges the notion that leaders treat their followers as a group. Instead, the LMX theory emphasizes that there may be individual differences between the leader and each of his or her followers. There exist two different types of leadership linkages: in-group (extra-roles) and out-group (defined roles). The in-group relationship is one characterized by mutual trust, respect, liking, and influence. On the other hand, the out-group relationship is marked indicated by formal communication between members based on their job descriptions. The followers’ status is determined by a reciprocal relationship, meaning how well the follower can work with the leader, as well as how well the leader can work with the follower. Followers have the ability to rise to the in-group by performing activities beyond the formal job description.

At my internship site, I noticed that the majority of the leader and follower relationships are based off of the in-group relationship. I have observed that most of the time the athletes who come in with long-term injuries have a much stronger relationship with the athletic trainers. But the extent or extremity of their injury is not the determining factor. The athletes who are a part of the in-group do more than just come into the training room, do their treatment, and then leave. These guys have formed a personal relationship by talking to the athletic trainers about more than just their injury, which helps them form a bond built on trust and reliability.

On the contrary, there are some athletes who are a part of the out-group. One in particular is an athlete with a quad strain. He has frequently arrived at practices, conditioning, and treatment late, from 10 to 45 minutes late, as well as being irritable in the mornings. The majority of the time, he will simply do as he is told without talking to anyone, but occasionally making snarky comments. This made him unpleasant to work with and his behavior in the training room hindered his ability to move from the out-group to the in-group. This also formed an obstacle for him to build a relationship, with not only the coaches and trainers, but with his teammates.