The development of blended friendship in high leader-member exchange relationships: Mechanisms and consequences of a relational shift

Confusion persists about the overlap between high-quality leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships and personal friendships between a leader and a subordinate. How these notions differ, shift from one to the other, and what their consequences are remain unclear. This paper proposes a framework that examines the fundamental differences between high LMX relationships and friendships. We argue that when high LMX relationships shift toward friendships, they in fact shift toward blended friendships, where the leader and the subordinate concomitantly enact two distinct roles, worker and friend. These blended friendships are qualitatively different from high LMX and from friendships. We detail the process by which blended friendship develops in the context of high LMX relationships and identify the key variables and mechanisms that drive the emergence of such blended friendships. We then examine how subordinates' well-being, job engagement, performance, and turnover may simultaneously benefit and suffer from their involvement in a blended friendship. For decades, the leadership literature has emphasized the importance of leader-subordinate relationships, providing abundant evidence that high-quality relationships between leaders and subordinates lead to a host of positive outcomes. Yet, significant confusion persists about the configurations of high-quality leader-subordinate relationships. How such relationships overlap and differ from personal friendships between leaders and subordinates, how they may morph into friendships, and what the outcomes of such relational change are remain unclear. This paper offers a theoretical framework that brings clarity to these issues. We examine the fundamental differences between high quality leader-subordinate relationships and friendships. We argue that when leaders and subordinates involved in a high-quality relationship get closer, their relationship may not turn into a friendship, but into a blended friendship, in which each partner must concomitantly behave as a friend and as a leader/subordinate. We examine how such relational shift may occur and identify key precipitating factors. We then explain how a blended friendship between a leader and a subordinate may lead to both positive and negative outcomes due to either enrichment or conflict between the friend's and the worker's role. The proposed framework clarifies the position of leaders and subordinates within their relationships with reference to friendship and sheds light on the dynamic nature of these relationships.