Dyadic Relationship Quality (DRQ) – Describing the Development of Leader-Follower Relationship Quality: A Qualitative, Longitudinal Study

For the last 20 years, Leader-Member Exchange theory (LMX) has been associated with the quality of relationships between leaders and followers, accounting for quality through the four dimensions of contribution, affect, loyalty and respect. This paper contributes to our understanding of relationship quality by presenting an extension to LMX theory. With a more comprehensive view of the development of leader-follower relationship quality than existing LMX theory, we propose the explanatory construct of Dyadic Relationship Quality (DRQ) development. The DRQ model demonstrates how trusting behaviours have hitherto been overlooked as the key to positive initial interactions. We show how performance and relationship quality are active dimensions of relationship development rather than outcomes of the relational process. The paper elaborates the experiential nature of leader-follower relationship quality by utilising a relatively rare methodology in LMX studies, a longitudinal qualitative study of leaders and followers in high-tech start-up organisations