Establishing a high-quality relationship between a leader and a collaborator over time

This phenomenological study was conducted to understand how leaders establish, in a reciprocal manner, a high-quality relationship with their collaborators over time, for the purpose of ensuring economic success through the creation of wealth in organizations. Six leaders and their respective collaborators who were neither owners nor members of the owner's family were selected from for-profit organizations located in Monterrey, Mexico.; Based on an extensive literature review of leader-collaborator relationships, themes were identified as well as a three-phase model described. These guided the subsequent in-depth interviews with the 12 Mexican executives. Qualitative data was interpreted and verified using multiple strategies to ensure internal validity.; Key findings included how "trust", as a basic construct in a successful leader-collaborator relationship, contributes to both leaders and collaborators believing the relationship to be of high quality. It was also found that trust is built in stages and comes initially from the leader. The leadership traits of listening and of being visionary were highly valued by both participant groups. The ingratiation process where the collaborator can have influence on the leader was found to be complex and difficult to apply in the context of the Mexican culture, because of long-standing beliefs about roles and relationships between superiors and collaborators.; Conclusions of the study support the belief that the process for establishing a high-quality relationship between a leader and his or her collaborators is one which involves a three-phase model, even though the organizations that were considered in this investigation did not clearly acknowledge this process as critical for shaping the future leaders or building of wealth within the organization.; Recommendations for those in leadership positions included strategies for identifying and developing collaborators to ensure organizational survival. Leaders need to share their knowledge of how establishing high-quality relationships between themselves and their collaborators have led to better results and an improved working environment. The organization's leaders must be the visionaries and architects for change and personally take on the responsibility for developing their future leaders as well as influencing the social conditions for the creation of new roles and relationships within Mexican organizations and culture.