Leader favouritism in the organisation: a process view and managerial recommendations

Despite the immense amount of literature addressing leadership, a shared understanding of leader favouritism is lacking. More specifically, the process of how leader favouritism develops once a new subordinate joins an organisation remains grossly unrepresented. In particular, this article addresses the stages by which leader favouritism develops. In stage 1, the leader favouritism developmental process begins with an initial leader-subordinate encounter and psychological contract establishment. In stage 2, the subordinate experiences initial turbulence, and the leader assists the subordinate. In stage 3, the subordinate establishes role legitimacy, and the leader offers acceptance. In stage 4, the subordinate seeks to pursue self-serving behaviours, leading to the leader giving into the self-serving behaviour. In stage 5, the subordinate attains role uniqueness, and the leader provides partial treatment. Furthermore, valuable recommendations that leaders can utilise to combat leader favouritism are discussed.