Evaluating the Role of Leader Member Exchange in Leadership Development Program Satisfaction

Today’s agricultural leaders face complex challenges. On a global scale, pressing issues around land use, food production and security, natural resource management, energy consumption, and climate change drive the need for systemic, innovative, collaborative solutions. For over four decades, adult agricultural leadership programs have represented an intentional investment in fostering leadership development and community participation in response to changing needs of rural and agricultural communities. The current study sought to investigate the role of leader member exchange (LMX) between leadership program participants with their program directors and the satisfaction participants had with their program experience. Through regression analysis LMX was found to be a statistically significant predictor of program satisfaction. Therefore, a recommendation is for program directors, and leadership educators more generally, to be cognizant of not only the content of programs, but also of the relationships they are forming with participants throughout a leadership development program.