| Status and organizational position are defining cues that shape how people interact in organizations. For executives, their position in the organization can be a double-edged sword of increased influence, but also of perceived isolation from others. Hence, the longstanding concern of leaders being "lonely at the top." To examine this further, I focus on the leader's developmental network---the constellation of relationships that provide the leader with career and psychosocial support. Extending status characteristics theory, I examine how a leader's organizational position shapes the dynamics of social support, represented by the leader's developmental network. Three independent sources of data were collected: a developmental network survey of top executives (n=227), a multisource survey of the executive's co-workers (n=1008), and performance ratings obtained from the executive's superiors (n=521). Contrary to assumptions of leaders being "lonely at the top", the findings reveal a positive relationship between a leader's organizational position and the strength of the leader's developmental network. This relationship is explained by two distinct mediating mechanisms: (1) a process of social influence, where a leader's position predicts co-worker perceptions of the leader's dominance, and consequently, greater career support; and (2) a process of social connection, where the leader's position predicts co-worker perceptions of the leader's warmth, and consequently, psychosocial support. I discuss the implications of these findings for strengthening developmental networks in organizations and for research on leadership and positive work relationships. |
