We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother;
– Shakespeare, from Henry V
The bond that warriors form in combat has been immortalized by many throughout the centuries, to include Shakespeare and his famous soliloquy from Henry V. These relationships foster unit cohesion, fighting spirit, and military performance. Once experienced, the depth of these relationships has an enduring quality not often seen in other professions.
If we examine our definition of leadership more closely, we see that there are two aspects that are integral to this discussion. First is the notion of results or performance. A leader must produce results. Second is the need for leaders to work through others to achieve those results.
Herein lies the importance of relationships: a leader must have strong functioning relationships to achieve great results.
Blake and Moulton first articulated this distinction in 1964 with their “Managerial Grid” model that identified five different leadership styles based on a manager’s bias toward concern for production or concern for people. Ideally, a leader could select the particular style that suited the situation at hand, varying the focus on results or relationships as required.
Several years later in 1978, James McGregor Burns introduced the concept of transformational leadership wherein “leaders and followers help each other to advance to a higher level of morale and motivation.”
According to Burns, a transforming approach to leadership creates significant change in the life of people and organizations. It redesigns perceptions and values, and changes expectations and aspirations of employees.
This is in contrast to the transactional approach, which is a style of leadership in which the leader promotes compliance of his followers through both rewards and punishments.
The leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership focuses on the two-way relationship between supervisors and subordinates. It puts relationships squarely at the center of leadership.
The theory assumes that leaders develop an exchange with each of their subordinates, and that the quality of these relationships influences subordinates’ responsibility, decision influence, access to resources, and performance. LMX focuses on increasing organizational success by creating positive relations between the leader and subordinate.
Extensive research on LMX has shown a number of benefits to the organization to include:
– Less employee turnover
– More positive performance evaluations
– Higher frequency of promotions
– Greater organizational commitment
– More desirable work assignments
– Better job attitudes
– More attention and support from the leader
– Greater participation
– Faster career progress
For leaders, LMX recommends that 1) they form productive, supportive relationships with all subordinates, 2) they offer subordinates opportunities for new roles and responsibilities, and 3) they should nurture high-quality relationships with all subordinates.
Given the role and position of the leader and the central importance of relationships for success, s/he must take the initiative to initiate, grow, and sustain relationships with subordinates. In this regard, it is vital for the leader to have awareness of the emotional intelligence required to manage emotions, sense the emotional states of others, and respond appropriately.
Research studies have demonstrated that it is emotional intelligence that predicts effective transformational leadership skills (Barling, Slater, & Kelloway, 2000). It is critical to a leader’s ability to actually lead people effectively.
At this point, you should be convinced of the need for a leader to have strong functioning relationships. If anything, the research is irrefutable. Nonetheless, we all know examples of leaders who just “don’t get it” for whatever reason. Maybe you were one these early on in your career before you wised up.
So I will leave it to Colonel Bryan McCoy, U.S. Marine Corps, now retired, to sum up this discussion. Bryan commanded infantry formations in the thick of the fight in Iraq. He knows about the importance of relationships in the most volatile of leadership crucibles. Here’s what he says:
“A commander must genuinely love his men and win their affections in return, and when the time comes, he must use that love to cause his men to willingly risk and even sacrifice their lives to accomplish the mission. Here lies the moral imperative of leadership.”
By Joe Scherrer | The Leadership Crucible