Deliberately expand your inner circle
Move team members from low-LMX to high-LMX through intentional relationship investment.
Key takeaways
- What it is: 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.
- Evidence: Backed by observational / correlational evidence.
- Avoid: 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.
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
- 1Identify one or two team members currently in lower-LMX relationships and choose to invest in them deliberately.
- 2Give them a meaningful assignment with real stakes, then provide genuine support — not oversight.
- 3Check in about their development, not just their task progress.
- 4Be patient: trust cycles take time to reverse, and the member may be skeptical of the change at first.
What the evidence says
ObservationalTraining 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.
Honest caveat: LMX training research is limited in scale and typically not widely replicated. Real-world application requires sustained intentional effort.
- — 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.
IX Coach helps you track which team relationships you’re investing in and whether the investment is changing the dynamic — making the cycle visible so you can adjust.
Practice this with IX Coach →