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. (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

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.