Manage a Critical Incident Playing Favorites as a Team Leader One of your colleagues just returned from a leadership training session at which the instructor presented the LMX, or leader-member exchange, theory. Listening to her talk about the training prompted thoughts about your own leader behaviors, and you came to a somewhat startling conclusion: You may be playing "favorites." In fact, the last person you recommended for promotion was a good friend and a member of your biweekly poker night club. Of course he was competent and is doing a good job in the new position. But as you think more about it, there were also two others on the team who may well have been equally good choices. Did you give them a fair chance when preparing your promotion recommendation, or did you short-change them in favor of your friend? Questions Well, it's a new day for the team, and basically the start of the rest of your leadership career. What can you do as a team leader to make sure that tendencies toward favoritism don't disadvantage some members? What warning signs can you watch for to spot when and if you are playing favorites?