Informal leaders within an organization are in general the individuals considered
worth of credibility by their peers and who are followed by these by virtue of the
way these are actually perceived.
An informal leader has no formal authority over
colleagues and his power to influence others simply rests on his capability to
inspire the other individuals respect, confidence and trust. A leader is indeed
supposed to lead naturally and not because this is trying intentionally, or
even making some particular efforts, to do so.
How can organisations benefit
from informal leaders
Informal leaders can indeed effectually
contribute to the success of an organization and of its formal leaders. They
can, for instance, help managers to achieve their objectives and lighten the workload
associated with their position considerably. Acting in a different way compared
to a formal leader they can, for instance, say things that a formal leaders for
different reasons cannot or that whether said by a formal leader might produce
a different outcome. Whether, for example, is an informal leader who says a
colleague that he has made a mistake, the effects would be different than that
produced by this activity being performed directly by the formal leader. An
employee is likely to be more willing to accept a remark from a colleague he
appreciates and trusts, rather than from a manager who acts on the basis of his
formal authority and makes decisions on his pay and career prospects.
Informal leaders have the
innate capabilities to influence in different ways the people who establish and
maintain relationships with them and this is actually why they are essentially perceived
differently.
Finally
Individuals
recognized as informal leaders do not habitually intentionally assume this role;
they just "emerge" simply because others have and show great respect
for them.
Whilst
informal leaders can definitely reveal to be important employers allies for the
attainment of the organizational success, these can also turn to be particularly
harmful to this extent in the event these should pull in the opposite direction
set by the formal leaders.
Albeit
it may seem that promoting informal leaders to formal positions could be a good
move, in practice giving formal authority to these individuals might in some
cases be the cause for informal leaders abruptly becoming ineffective leaders.
This may happen because the formal authority they receive may alter the quality
of the relationships these have built and developed over time with their peers.
Care needs invariably to be taken when trying to
harness the power of informal leaders. Informal leaders clearly derive their
influence from the perception that the other employees have of them as individuals
completely independent of the management power and influence, for their
integrity and for standing up for what they believe in. These employee convictions
are actually developed on the basis of the practical behaviour exhibited by
informal leaders over time. Whether formal leaders should try and manipulate
informal leaders, the risk is that these would rebel or "stand
against" the formal leaders. Attempting to coerce or put under pressure an
informal leader may thus have severe backlashes and has to be invariably
averted.
Longo, R., (2009), Informal leader, HR Professionals, [online].
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