Formal or informal leader - who is he and what does such leadership mean?

Each team has official leadership and unofficial leadership. The appearance of an authoritative person in a group is due to the interpersonal interaction of team members. In the course of joint activities, everyone has the opportunity to demonstrate their qualities. Anyone who wins over, shows interest and sympathy for colleagues, becomes an informal leader.

Informal leader

Definition of an informal leader

An informal leader is a person who is able to influence people, regardless of what position he holds in the company. This is a person who is pleasant to be around.

An informal leader has the following qualities:

Charm. He not only knows how to please others, but also uses this ability for his own benefit.
Positive attitude. His belief in a favorable outcome of any matter serves as an example for others.
Self confidence. Posture, tone of voice, gestures - the entire appearance and behavior of a person express his confidence. In a difficult situation, he remains calm, this makes him attractive to his colleagues.

Understand your motivation

First, you need to figure out why you strive to be a leader and what you expect. It’s good if you clearly understand that this is preparation for a future leadership position. If you just want leadership as such, it’s worth thinking about.

“If a person wants to be an informal leader, this raises questions. Can he realize himself in a formal structure, rise in position, or does he just need to grab people’s attention?” - says psychologist Konstantin Venerable.

Perhaps informal leadership is important to you because it supposedly gives you a feeling of confidence. In this case, it is better to discuss this topic with a psychologist. Otherwise, you may encounter disappointed expectations: there is status, but there is still no confidence.

Formal and informal leadership: differences

Choleric - what kind of person is this?

Attention! The main difference between an informal leader and a formal leader is that this status is assigned to him by the team itself. A formal leader is a manager, a person who holds an administrative position in an enterprise. A leadership position cannot endow a person with certain qualities.

An informal person differs from an official leader in the following points:

There is always a leader in the team. If this post becomes vacant, the vacancy is quickly filled by one or another candidate. The informal appears spontaneously; it is impossible to control this process.
Formal leadership is a stable structure. Informal leadership is a temporary phenomenon.
The boss always has sanctions in his hands. The leader has no sanctions that he can apply to colleagues if they refuse to do as he says.
An unofficial leader maintains his position thanks to his strong qualities. The manager heads the enterprise in accordance with his job description.
It is easier for a manager to maintain a leading position than for an informal worker, because the production hierarchy is recognized by all employees.

Director's authority

The manager regulates the production relationships of employees, and the informal influences the interpersonal relationships in the team.
When making management decisions, the director takes into account many factors, weighs and analyzes, and sometimes calls his deputies to a meeting. Administrative decisions take into account the interests of not only a particular enterprise, but also the interests of other companies. The leader makes decisions individually and directly. His decisions are based on the interests of the members of a particular team.

Difference of concepts

The concept of a formal leader means a mandatory set of characteristics:

by virtue of his position, he is obliged to make decisions and coordinate employees, although he is not always a leader by nature;
he is responsible for the activities of his subordinates.

There are situations in which a formal leader may lose authority in the eyes of his employees, and for some reason they may not recognize his leadership in the team.

The advantage he has is official authority, which is a factor determining his dominance in the team. But sometimes assurances on paper are not enough.

Formal leaders do not feel the need to build personal relationships with subordinates; they are limited only to working relationships.

And often this does not work in their favor. Formal leadership arises at the moment of signing the act of accepting an employee for work and does not have a human factor, therefore in an informal group there is always an unofficial leader, and in a formal group there is an official leader.

An informal leader is a person who is not given a leadership position and does not have sufficient authority to manage personnel, but has power over employees. His main advantage is that he has a closer connection with his colleagues, as a result of which he can be more influential than the formal leader.

Often they choose a person who has qualities that the main leader does not have.

Relationships between formal and informal leaders

The relationship between official and informal leadership in a team can be characterized as competition or cooperation. In order for the team to have a favorable climate, and at the same time, production tasks are completed on time, management must ensure that informal leaders become their comrades-in-arms. In this case, the corporate culture of the company is formed through informality.

Pessimist - what kind of person is this?

If the director fails to make the informal leader his ally, then with a high probability their relationship will be difficult. At every opportunity, the informal leader will show the rest of the employees the inconsistency of management and question the authority of the administration.

Additional Information. Sometimes the activity of an informal leader is due to his desire to advance up the career ladder. In this case, the boss notices the potential in the leader, transfers him to a higher position, placing hopes on his leadership abilities. However, having achieved the desired chair, the leader can show himself in a completely different way.

The leader made his way to the bosses

The role of a real leader

A real leader can perform several different roles:

"Conductor" .
Fulfills the task assigned to him by the leadership, which does not strive for excessive democracy. Builds relationships in the team in accordance with the course set by his superiors. It is important for him to realize his own importance due to the need experienced by management for his help. He is distinguished by his diligence and friendliness, thanks to which he slowly but surely moves up the career ladder.
"Shirt Guy" . A sociable and charming person who easily gains the trust of individual members of the team. With the help of a positive attitude, which he infects other people with, he sets up his colleagues to perform initially tedious and routine tasks with enthusiasm. Enjoys the feeling of being on the same level with leaders.
"Eminence grise" . A secretive and slightly boring person who prefers to act quietly and efficiently. He is happy to be formally on the sidelines, fully aware of the real importance of his position. Such secret power gives him pleasure. Pays attention to little things and nuances, thanks to which he always finds an approach to any person. An excellent manipulator and first-class strategist.
"Rebel" . He chooses his position as an unspoken leader only because of the desire to influence the masses in order to organize a rebellion. The purpose of his activity is to set conditions, fight for the rights of the disadvantaged and other aggressive actions that are in no way directly related to the real goals of the group. He fights for the sake of fighting itself, and the final goal is secondary.

Scenarios for the manifestation of informal leadership

Idealist - what kind of person is this?

Psychologists, in the process of studying leadership in production teams, have identified several scenarios for the manifestation of this phenomenon:

Situational. Given a favorable combination of circumstances and personal interest in a particular situation, each person can one day demonstrate leadership qualities.
Career. This scenario is chosen by those who seek to occupy a leadership position in an organization. In this case, the leader can choose both honest and dishonest ways to achieve his goals. He can act on the sly, deceive.
Command. This scenario assumes the presence of several informal leaders in the team. Based on the similarity of personal characteristics, they team up and develop a short outline for solving production problems. In most cases, a team leadership scenario has a positive impact on the performance of the entire enterprise as a whole.

Definition

Leadership within management is defined as the ability to influence people and direct their activities to achieve designated goals. An informal leader concentrates and directs the efforts of the group; his authority rests not on power and its attributes, but on personal qualities.

An informal leader is a person who often has more influence in a team than the official leader. Leading positions go to him as recognition of his high social status, based not on financial superiority or power given by law, but on the properties of his character, skills, charisma, education, and intelligence.

An unofficial leader is an individual who has a certain set of personal qualities, which means the formation of generally recognized authority on a basis that does not depend on material wealth or patronage from above. He is energetic and competent in the professional field, showing sincere sympathy and responsiveness to others. Positive energy directed towards colleagues is perceived as the ability to find a common language with people.

Such a person has developed the very communication skills that allow him to get along with other employees and gain their trust and respect. He easily gets close to new acquaintances, quickly becomes their friend, mentor, adviser, and doc. The majority listens to his opinion, which means a high degree of influence on the consciousness and behavior of the masses.

Formal leadership can be characterized as the artificial creation of a situation where employees obey the leader assigned to the position, regardless of how much he corresponds to their ideas about a good manager. Members of the team may not respect the boss, do not share his views and management methods, but are forced to carry out his orders.

When his ideas do not find universal approval, and management techniques run counter to the opinion of the majority, hidden or open conflict situations arise. Moreover, hidden dissatisfaction is more dangerous for business, because for a long time the manager may not find an explanation for the drop in sales or productivity due to the reluctance of employees to work with full dedication.

Role of an informal leader

Management, as a rule, always distances itself from its subordinates: the director’s office is located far from the production workshop, and the director communicates with subordinates only when necessary. Therefore, the director does not have the opportunity to regulate and control the processes of developing interpersonal relationships within the team of workers.

Important! An informal leader of a team can act in different psychological roles. The main roles of leaders are the rebel, the gray cardinal, the shirt-guy, and the conductor.

Rebel

A leader in this role knows how to say the right phrase at the right moment. This is a fighter for justice. He is inclined to prove his case to his superiors in a dispute. Sometimes he provokes a rebellion, defending someone's interests. The team becomes attached to him, as he is ready to stand up for any employee.

Attention! If it happens that a leader quits due to a conflict with management, those for whom he was attractive may quit after him.

Eminence grise

Such a person is well versed in psychology: all his actions are a subtle calculation. Often the gray cardinal chooses a wait-and-see tactic: he watches his colleagues and superiors, analyzes, and chooses those who are more susceptible to pressure. He can cause confusion in the team while remaining in the shadows. He accomplishes his tasks with the help of other people.

Eminence grise

Shirt guy

The essence of this leadership scenario is the generation of many ideas. Such a person is loved by the team for his sociability, charm, sense of humor, and optimism. His suggestions and ideas are received with enthusiasm by his colleagues.

Important! A distinctive feature of this leadership role is the person’s ability to communicate on equal terms with both colleagues and management.

Conductor

The leader-conductor is the right hand of the director. The director conveys information to employees through the conductor, and at the same time learns from the leader what the team's reaction to this information was.

Attention! A leader-conductor is a good organizer. However, he has little understanding of management, so he prefers to be an assistant to official management.

Functions

The main functions that a leader performs in a social group:

predict the development of events and take measures to develop an action strategy;
to take responsibility;
set tasks for group members;
distribute responsibilities in accordance with the abilities of each participant;
provide moral and practical support in solving problems;
motivate to achieve high results;
strives to achieve common, not personal interests;
in case of failure, bear responsibility for the mistakes made.

Using informality in the interests of management

A competent leader always strives to identify informal leaders in the team and build constructive relationships with them. This will help avoid many problems.

The unity of informal and formal leadership is the path to increasing the efficiency of an enterprise. To use informality in the interests of the company, the following techniques are effective:

Encouraging initiative. Financial incentives do not always have to be used as incentives. Verbal approval is also important for a person.
Recognition of authority. If the manager recognizes the leader’s authority in the team and openly communicates this to him, the informal person feels respect from his superiors. A privileged position encourages the informal to take active action and motivate colleagues to do good work.
If the goals of management and the informal leader do not coincide, the boss should be as open as possible with his subordinates. Organizing meetings and collective discussion of current affairs will eliminate the possibility of distortion of information and confrontation between employees led by the informal leader of the enterprise administration.
The rebel leader should be loaded with production matters as much as possible. In this case, he will feel needed by the enterprise; he will not have time to organize a strike.

Partnership between leader and manager

Reasons for appearance

Informal leadership is notable for the fact that sometimes the team, without realizing it, is under the influence of its colleague. In case of some problem they turn to him more often than to a formal one. And he cleverly proposes his ideas, stimulating others to implement them thanks to his charisma.

The emergence of an informal leader in a team is not uncommon and occurs in most organizations.

This is due to the fact that, regardless of the type of activity, personal relationships are always valued in any team. And no matter how good the boss is, employees will always find an idol to whom they will listen with greater joy. Such people are loved by the team, but not always by the current leader.

Often such cases arise in a company with an authoritarian management regime. In the case when the manager does not try to improve relations with his subordinates, everything is compensated by the influence of the informal leader. Such people are distinguished by an active lifestyle, openness and charm. They can easily resolve conflicts and reduce the intensity of passions.

There is another extreme at which they appear. A boss with a soft character provokes the emergence of a tougher employee who is capable of making responsible decisions.

What to do with a destructive leader

It often happens that an informal person causes discord in the relationship between superiors and subordinates. Destructive leadership not only spoils the psychological climate of the team, but also brings financial losses to the company. To correct the situation, the director needs to use some tricks:

The initiative of the informal must be intercepted and his activity directed in the right direction. At the same time, do not scold him, but praise him, and emphasize that the company is interested in him.
An informal leader knows the peculiarities of relationships between colleagues, and therefore is able to help them get ready for work. It can also provide support to a depressed employee. In conflict situations, employees consider his opinion authoritative, so he can resolve a quarrel without bringing the matter to a discussion in the director’s office.
It is necessary to build democratic relationships with subordinates. Taking into account the opinions of subordinates in resolving work issues will help establish discipline and reduce the likelihood of the spread of rumors and gossip.

Informal leadership is a phenomenon that appears in production teams due to the innate qualities and abilities of a person. Management needs to build partnerships with the informal leader, then his presence among subordinates will provide the company with high productivity, retention of staff and consistently high profits.

The benefits of a leader for a team

Signs of identifying a leader

The so-called cardinal gray is not always as obvious as one might imagine. Often, the head of an organization does not know who exactly influences employees. To find out, you need to tread carefully and not attract too much attention. An informal leader in a group has the following characteristics:

The most sociable person. It will take a little time to determine the most sociable employee. Most often, he has the ability to easily find a common language with people of any age and temperament.
Authority. It is necessary to find out who people constantly turn to for advice, asking for help with something or solving a problem. Seniority and work experience play an important role here.
Confidence and organizational skills. In most cases, the ideological leader expresses disagreement with controversial decisions of management and acts as a representative of the team.
Good attitude towards both the entire team and each person. In the process of work, this can be determined if he goes to lunch or to the smoking room with different people.

Informal leaders in an organization usually appear when an unexpected situation arises, for example, a project deadline is running out or an important employee gets sick. Then one or more people take the initiative and organize the work, raising their authority. Subsequently, they will be contacted for advice.

The shadow leader will always resist

We continue the theme of the gray cardinal. In the last issue, we looked at the algorithm for converting cardinal gray to white, when our gray turned out to be not as harmful as it could be. This was an easy option for losing the power of a leader; accordingly, returning it is easier than the option of interacting with a “villain”.

Who is our villain?

A gray cardinal who does not love us with all his being, does not recognize us, envy us, does not respect us, etc. The one who does not grist for our mill and the mill of our business. Those who put a spoke in the wheels are drawing the focus of attention to themselves, which is often not the case. Looking for justice where no one has lost it. Involves employees into conflicts, gossip, intrigue, and sabotage. Creates an opposition, “plays political games” instead of working.

Those who encounter such a takeover of power for the first time in their company usually perceive this extremely negatively. Sometimes he feels helpless.

Who would like that when someone on your team is playing against you?! So, the first desire that arises in such a negative situation is: “Drive him to hell, away with him!” The historical facts become clear why royals in past centuries, without hesitation, cut off the heads of such encroachers on power.

Expulsion of the gray eminence is a last resort.

When using it, you need to remember that by expelling such a person, you are making an enemy in him, who can cause colossal harm (especially if he was a key employee in your company and brought a number of important employees from the team to his side). Your competitors can “shelter” him (sympathize, “give shelter”). Part of your team may follow him. People with such a character do not forget for a long time and do not forgive the insult inflicted on them. After all, he sincerely believed that he was better than you in everything - and he would manage the business better than you, and more competently than you, and people loved him more than you. And you kicked him out - not for his service. “My revenge will be unexpected and sophisticated!” he thinks. So, think a hundred times before simply getting rid of such an oppositionist. Of course, we should have thought earlier, so as not to bring the situation to an extreme. But the situation cannot be ignored now.

You should pay special attention to your power, influence, leadership, and ability to manage relationships in a team - this is the key to the success of your business and its sustainability and manageability. When getting into a fight with a cardinal, taking him beyond the boundaries of your business, do not forget to think a few steps ahead - what will come of it? Outside of business, this person becomes beyond your control and only God knows what he will think of there... It’s good if in a new place he receives what he fought for with you and calms down with this. And if not? In my consulting experience there are many examples of the development of such options (when they do not calm down, people use all their skills to prove to the one who expelled him that he is stronger).

Think, think. Management requires a special style of thinking, the ability to manage your attention...

Suppose you decide to compete with such a negatively influencing person and prove to him who is boss. What are we doing? Almost the same thing as with a positive gray eminence, only we are preparing for active resistance on his part - he shares power with you, and is not involved in business.. And he will not play spillikins. For him, this fight is too serious a matter. So don't relax. Prepare to be extremely attentive and accurate in all your actions, decisions, words/assessments/dialogues.

There is a struggle for power. It is rarely easy and simple.

Usually, the eminence grise is endowed with a serious number of undeserved privileges (when to come and leave work, the size of the bonus, requirements, etc.). For ourselves, we create a list of his undeserved privileges (what he can do that others cannot do) and make the secret obvious. We create conditions under which these privileges become legalized for the cardinal. Good work - bonus, bad work - be healthy! The daily routine is the same for everyone, and for him, of course, too. Does he not respect his team? Everyone comes on time, and he... He is at the head of the people, which means he needs to set an example: “Let’s start establishing discipline with you... The fish is rotting, you know which side... It’s honorable when a leader can personally set a positive example. They will look up to you!”

Change the process of decision-making and distribution of benefits from an unclear regime to a transparent one. Voice it out loud, create rules - for everyone without exception. Thus, deprive anyone of the opportunity to become elected. And if it’s so important for you that the chosen one is in the company, appoint him yourself (and you understand that this should not be an eminence grise), announce this to people: “I’m appointing a name... Everyone should listen and be afraid.”

Use the same technique as with the white cardinal - add load-responsibility to him and ask, as with 10 people, intensively: “Well, I’m not picking on you. I highly appreciate your abilities. And from those who are given more by nature and by position, the demand is greater. I'm sure you can handle this." Keep your eminence grise busy so that he has no time to engage in manipulation. So that all his time would be spent on taking care of his image: “So as not to get into a puddle and give away the results.”

Recognize his moves as an attempt to shift responsibility onto someone/you. Do it publicly, information about your assessment of his moves should be available to people. Make them understand what is fair in your company and what is something else...

The work is painstaking – making the management process transparent and systematic. Especially if you have not strived for this before... You always have a choice: leave everything as it is and reap the fruits of the machinations of the gray eminence, or get involved in management as much as possible and take control of the implicit flows of power. Let's imagine that you made everything explicit, transparent, orderly. A natural question arises: could the eminence grise become the official leader in this situation?

There is such a possibility, but it is small. People with a certain type of character become gray cardinals. They are good at waging covert wars, gathering opposition behind the leader’s back, weaving intrigues and manipulating (in a certain way) others. In front of everyone, they become helpless, lose their shine, gloss and coolness. Their activities lose meaning... As a result of clarification of your decisions and distribution of benefits, they lose their power of influence, fade and... they themselves leave the company in search of another victim, behind whose back they can develop to the fullest.

Do not forget to take into account useful moves and ways of influencing the gray cardinal. They're not all that terrible. His ability to influence has a lot of benefits for you. The better you study the activities of the gray cardinal, the better you will manage. Confucius also spoke about this:

“When people hate someone, you should definitely find out why. When people love someone, you should definitely find out why.”

To return power, you will need not only knowledge of the algorithm for neutralizing the oppositionist, developing a strategy for your actions to transfer to your side or to create conditions for him to make a decision to leave. Special attention to your negotiation skills with the opposition. Dialogues with the gray eminence (and with the white one too) will be even better! You won't be bored. If you have questions about the intricacies of the process of regaining power - how to do it all, how to behave, what to say? Take a place in the group now for the “Management and Power” seminar. The next seminar is in Moscow on August 25-26. I love this topic. I warn you: it's contagious!

And in the next issue we will talk about how to become an eminence grise yourself. Let's look at this issue from all sides.

May your Path be worthy. Respect yourself and value others. See you again! And remember, I know nothing about what you think and feel until you write... With respect to you, Elena Romanova.

An example to follow

A leader may not be the most valuable employee, but he will always be the talk of his colleagues. His decisions, actions, proposals and initiatives, views and judgments will be discussed and set as an example. This is especially noticeable when there is no compelling reason to look for authorities, but still the same name comes up in conversations every now and then. Often, bosses, despite their status, envy leaders because this casts a shadow on their personal ambitions, but an experienced and wise leader will look for practical application of the situation, and not pointlessly come out with anger.

Try to identify the informal leader and be sure to find a common language with him in the very first days at the new place of work. They take an example from him, which means that his attitude is almost a verdict.

Our students note that the undoubted advantage that psychological training in the psychology of communication gives them is the opportunity to receive an objective assessment of their behavior from the outside. As they say, you will see a speck in someone else’s eye, but you won’t even notice a log in your own.