Informal leader

An informal leader is a person who does not hold a formally assigned leadership position but is nevertheless recognized as a leader by their co-workers. They appear informally when no one has been selected as a leader (Claus et al., 2020). That means that leadership is not necessarily connected to someone being formally assigned to be the leader of a team (Briker et al., 2021). Informal leaders have influence over their team members in term of motivation, task behavior and direction (Zhang et al., 2012). They act as an initiator, planner, and integrator within the team. They become the leader because of the way their employees respond to them. Employees respect the informal leader and follow their lead (Claus et al., 2020). Informal leadership is known to be an important factor in organizational behavior.

Characteristics of an informal leader

Informal leaders tend to involve their employees in decision-making processes, for example. They listen carefully and want to understand. Therefore, they seek interactive dialogue and are open to criticism and appreciation. They encourage others, motivate them, and try to set accents together with them. It is likely that an informal leader wants to build trust, strong relationships with team members and people working in other departments. In addition, they seek to guide other employees by mentoring or coaching them and offering them other ways to help. Their coworkers also consider their informal leader as a guidance. In addition, informal leaders are seen as humble, fair, and behave in a manner that treats different ethical groups equally. It is natural for informal leaders to treat everyone with respect and dignity. They can also be seen as altruistic, caring for the common good, ethical, purpose-driven, and meaningful to employees. They have a sense of humor and like to have fun at work. Yet, they also think critically and creatively. They are confident, intelligent, and have a high level of expertise in their work area. Flexibility and open-mindedness are other characteristics of informal leaders. On the other hand, they do not use coercion or fear in their leadership style. Informal leaders are unlikely to abuse their power (Pielstick, 2000).

Comparison to formal leadership

Unlike the informal leader, a formal leader is destined to assume a leadership role. The formal leader has a position in an organization that makes him or her the leader of a group within the organization or the entire organization (Claus et al., 2020). For a formal leader it’s the professional task to motivate its fellows. Being a formal leader is moreover linked with the job title. Therefore, formal leaders have a different availability of authority and power than informal leaders. This authority derives from different sources: The formal leader has power because of different hierarchy levels whereas the informal leader has power because of their coworkers giving them the possibility to be influential. Formal leaders can rely on a "power exercising" leadership style, while informal leaders must take an authentic leadership approach (Pielstick, 2000). There is no guarantee that a formally appointed leader can best motivate their employees or have the best ideas (Claus et al., 2020). Furthermore, informal and formal leaders have different relationships within the company. Informal leaders often cover a wider range of people working in different hierarchy levels than formal leaders (Pielstick, 2000). Nevertheless, having a formally assigned leader facilitating the team can be important for the company. The role the leader is supposed to have within the team is an important factor of deciding whether a formal leader should be selected or not (Zhang et al., 2012).

Advantages of informal leaders

It is said that informal leadership can increase the team’s effectiveness. With that, having an informal team leader can become an important factor for the team’s performance (Zhang et al., 2012). Also, team processes can be improved if an informal leader steps in an coordinates these processes. With a caring informal leader also the well-being within the team and the relationships can be positively affected (Briker et al., 2021).

References

• Briker, R., Hohmann, S., Walter, F., Lam, C. K., & Zhang, Y. (2021). ‘’Formal supervisors' role in stimulating team members' informal leader emergence: Supervisor and member status as critical moderators’’. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 42(7), 913-932.
• Claus, L., Baker, S., & Vermeulen, P. (2020). Be(Come) an awesome manger: The essential toolkit for impact leadership. Global Immersion Press, 361-402.
• Pielstick, C. D. (2000). ‘’Formal vs. informal leading: A comparative analysis’’. Journal of Leadership Studies, 7(3), 99-114.
• Zhang, Z., Waldman, D. A., & Wang, Z. (2012), ‘’A multilevel investigation of leader–member exchange, informal leader emergence, and individual and team performance’’, Personnel Psychology, 65(1), 49-78.

Author: Mira Sophie Schön

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