Exceptional leaders and their followers: An in-depth look at leader-follower interactions.

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increase in the study of outstanding leaders and the differences between outstanding leaders of different types and orientations. Very few studies, however, have been performed regarding how these outstanding leaders interact with their followers. The present study uses biographical information for 120 outstanding leaders and evaluates their relationships with their close followers based on normative and higher-level leader-member exchange (LMX) dimensions. Differences were found for the normative dimensions for leader orientation (socialized vs. personalized) with socialized leaders typically exhibiting better close follower interactions. Differences were found for the higher-level dimensions for both leader orientation and leader style (ideological, charismatic, and pragmatic) with socialized and ideological leaders typically exhibiting better close follower interactions. These differences and implications for the study of outstanding leadership are discussed.