You are on page 1of 2

(http://leadertoday.

org/) LEADERSHIP RESOURCE


CENTER (../../INDEX.SHTML)
Better Leaders! Better Work! Better Lives (../../index.shtml)

ABacal&AssociatesWebsite

NAVIGATION

#1 Online Ticketing System - Zendesk - Free 30 Day Trial


A Beautifully Simple Ticketing System. Try Zendesk Support. 30 Day Free Trial. zendesk.com

New And Featured

How To Help People Understand The Meaning of Organizational Values (valuesnailing.htm)


Reducethegapbetweenespousedvaluesandenactedonestoreduceemployeecynicismanddrift.

Managers and Leaders CAN Increase Employee Condence: Here's How (buildcondence.htm)
Leading When the Path Is Foggy Or Obscured (foggedinleadership.htm)

Most Popular Features

Main Page: Leadership Resource Center (http://leadertoday.org/)


Leadership Library (http://leadertoday.org/index.html)
Leadership Articles (http://leadertoday.org/articles/)
Workplace New Article Series: Why Employee Engagement Has Been A MASSIVE Failure And What To Do Instead (http://work911.com/articles/indexengagement.htm)
The Future Of Performance Management And Employee Reviews: Comprehensive Resources (http://performance-appraisals.org)
The One Thing, And One Thing ONLY That We Know About Leadership (http://work911.com/articles/leadersh1.html)

Leadership Questions and Answers

General Leadership Questions and Principles (http://leadertoday.org/faq/indexgeneral.htm)


Leadership Challenges and Their Solutions (http://leadertoday.org/faq/indexchallenges.htm)
Developing Your Leadership Capabilities (http://leadertoday.org/faq/indexdevelopment.htm)
Leadership Myths and Mistakes (http://leadertoday.org/faq/indexmyth.htm)
Leadership Skills, Actions and Behaviors (http://leadertoday.org/faq/indexskills.htm)
Responsiveness - The Key To Manager/Leader Success? (http://work911.com/products/i-cresp.htm)
The Busy Learner's Kit For Making Performance Management & Appraisal VALUABLE - Walking The Path Together (http://work911.com/products/perfkit.htm)

Search our Network Sites

Wehavemorethantencontentfilledsites,includingthisone.Youhavetheabilitytosearchthemusingtheboxbelow.

Understanding Informal Leaders In An Organization (and Benefiting From Them) By Robert


Bacal

Managers,supervisors,executivesoranyotherswithformalpowerandtitlewithin
anorganizationcanreaphugebenefitsfromcultivatinganddevelopingexisting
informal leaders (/leadership-development/faq/informalleader.htm)intheirworkunits.
informal leaders (/leadership-development/faq/informalleader.htm)intheirworkunits.
Or,informalleaderscanworkagainsttheformalleadersintheorganization.

Wheninformalleadersareworkingtowardsachievingthesamevisionandgoalsas
theformalleaders(andtheorganizationitself),theycantakeatremendousburden
fromthebacksofmanagersandformalleaders.Someoftheleadershipfunctions,
andmanymanagementfunctionscanactuallybecarriedoutinformallybythose
withoutactualauthority.Thisfreesthosewithformalmanagementresponsibilityto
focusonwhatthey,themselvescanuniquelydo.

Informalleadershavesomecapabilitiesthatmoreformalleadersdonot,simply
becausetheydoNOTholdapositionofdesignatedauthority.Theycansaythings,
forexample,tootherteammembersthatcouldnotbesaidbyapersoninanofficial
managementrole,andtheirabilitytoinfluenceisslightlydifferent,sinceinformal Today'sFreeResources
leadersareoftenperceiveddifferentlythanformalleaders. ABoldCupofLeadershipCaffeineAShortGuideto
StimulateHighPerformanceLeadership
Thinkaboutateamlet'ssayasportsteam,whereinformalleadersareoften Thisguidewillhelpyou:Winthe
talkedaboutandlauded.Imagine(andyoumightwanttothinkaboutGeorge innergameofleadingandavoid
leadershipmeltdownsInitiatea
Steinbrenner,owneroftheNewYorkYankeesBaseballTeam)thataseniorperson
positiverevolutionbyknockingdown
(owner)goesdowntothelockerroomandrudelyandaggressivelycriticizesspecific obstaclesan...
playersandtheteamingeneralfornotplayingwell,andnottrying,andthreatens
theteammembers.Howmightthatbeperceivedbytheplayers?Bythemedia? May17,201712:00:00AM
Whilewecan'tpredictwhethertherantwouldbesuccessfulintermsofresults,we
TheMultiGenerationalWorkplaceMakingGenerational
canpredictthattheplayers'reactionsmayrangefrompositivetonegative DiversityWork
dependingontheirhistorywiththeowner,ANDthattheirreactionswouldalmost GenerationY(orMillennials)is
enteringthemarketinhugenumbers.
certainlybedifferentthanifarespectedinformalleaderdidasimilarthingin
Infact,therearesuggestionsthat
theclubhouse. Millennialswillmakeupoverhalfthe
wo...
Theinformalleaderwhomighttakeonthistaskisrespected,perhapstrusted,based
RSS Feed Widget (http://feed.mikle.com/)
onhisperformanceandrelationshipswiththeotherplayers,whiletheownerismore
likelytobeinaleadershiproleduetohisformalauthorityandpower,andabilityto
instillfearintheplayers(notethisisageneralization,sincenotallformalleadersarerespected,orusefeartomotivate).

Inanyevent,theinformalleaderinfluencesindifferentways,andsoisperceiveddifferently.Ofcourse,thisinfluencedoesn'tonly
occurwhentheinformalleaderiscriticizingor"kickingbutt",butalsohappensasaresultofotherplayersseeingthecommitment,
levelofintensity,integrity,andperformancelevelsofaninformalleader.Formany"players"(andthisapplieswithinsportsand
without),whoismoreinspiringtherichpowerfulowneroftheteamwhohasneverplayedthesport,orthetalented,respected,
supercompetentandhardworkingteammate?Oreventhelesstalentedteammatewhogives110percent?Inmanycasesthe
informalpeerleaderholdsmoreinfluence.

Hereareafewbulletpointstohelpyouunderstandthepowerinformalleadershaveinanyorganization.

Notallinformalleadershaveintentionallygoneoutoftheirwaystobecomeinformalleaders.Sometiimesthey"emerge"simply
becauseothersintheorganizationhavegreatrespectforthem.
Whileinformalleaderscanbeimportantorevenessentialtothesuccessofanorganization,theycanalsobehugeimpedimentsif
theystartpullingindirectionsthatareinoppositiontothedirectiontheformalleadersvalue.
Forthereasonabove,formalleadersmaywanttotakestepstodeveloptheirinformalleadersmorecompletely,andkeeplinesof
communicationopenwiththem.
Whileitmayseemthatpromotinginformalleaderstoformalpositionsofpowermakessense,it'salsothecasethatsome
informalleadersmaybecomeineffectiveifgivenformalauthority(whilesomemaybeverysuccessful).Thisisbecauseformal
authoritymayaltertherelationshipsofthenewformalleaderwithhisorherformalpeers.

Careneedstobetakenwhentryingtoharnessthepowerofinformalleadership.Aninformalleader'spowerandinfluenceoften
derivesfromtheperceptionthatheorshehasintegrity,andstandsupforwhatheorshebelieves,becausetheirbehaviorhas
demonstratedthat.Whenformalleaderstrytocoopt,ormanipulateinformalleaders,theriskisthattheinformalleaderswill
rebel,or"standagainst"theformalleader.Attemptingtobribe,coerceorotherwisepressureaninformalleadertotoetheline
mayendupbackfiring.

There'smoreonthissubjectinthefollowingarticles:

Developing The Informal Leaders In Your Organization (/leadership-development/articles/developinformalleaders.htm)


Beneting From Informal Leaders In Your Organization (/leadership-development/articles/informalleadershipbenets.htm)

About Company
Bacal&Associateswasfoundedin1992.SincethenRoberthastrainedthousandsofemployeestodealwithangry,hostile,abusiveandpotentiallyviolentcustomers.Hehasauthoredover
20booksonvarioussubjects,manypublishedbyMcGrawHill.

You might also like