Informal Leadership Status and Individual Performance

Abstract

Informal leadership has been a topic of growing interest in recent years, with the recognition that much remains to be known about this phenomenon. In the present study, an integrative social-political conceptualization of informal leadership is proposed and tested. The research question was tested through individual self-report survey questions, a network-based consensus informal leadership measure whereby each employee identified informal leaders in their network, and individual performance provided by the organization. Specifically, the mediated moderation test demonstrated that employees high in political will, as operationalized by power motivation, were more likely to be collectively recognized as informal leaders than those low in political will, and the performance of these informal leaders was found to be contingent on their political skill. By capturing informal leadership using a consensus measure, the results of this study provide a first look at informal leadership in an organizational setting, not team or group. Furthermore, the current research offers a social networkpolitical conceptualization of informal leadership in organizations that contributes to theory, research, and practice.

Leading the team, but feeling dissatisfied: Investigating informal leaders' energetic activation and work satisfaction and the supporting role of formal leadership

“…Due to the increasingly dynamic and complex work environment, informal leadership is believed to help work teams be more effective and adaptable in changing environments (e.g., Day et al, 2004;Hannah et al, 2011;Zhang et al, 2012). Informal leadership can be conceptualized as a perceived social status reflecting the degree to which an individual is perceived as a group leader by his/her peers even without formal authority (Schneier & Goktepe, 1983;Shaughnessy et al, 2017). Informal leaders not only benefit through increased power, status, and reputation (Day et al, 2009;DeRue & Ashford, 2010) but also demonstrate greater commitment to assigned tasks and thus enhance their own performance (e.g., Day et al, 2004;Zhang et al, 2012) and team effectiveness (e.g., Wang et al, 2014).…”

Tensions Between Diversity and Shared Leadership: The Role of Team Political Skill

“…However, team political skill may have a direct effect on promoting the amount of leadership functions exerted in the team because people with high levels of political skill are good at knowing how and when to influence others and accept influence from others. Although previous studies (e.g., Shaughnessy, Treadway, Breland, & Perrewé, 2017) suggest that individuals’ political will is a stronger predictor of informal leadership emergence and effectiveness than their political skill, because people need fundamental motivation to drive them to engage in leadership activities, we are not denying the probability that political skill could serve as a predictor of shared leadership in teams. Future studies could look into the direct impact of political skill on the development of shared leadership structure and other possible moderators to have better understandings of the relationship between political skill and shared leadership.…”

Political Skill Across Health Care Leaders: A Longitudinal Analysis

“…While NCLs increased in regards to their II and also AS, perhaps after recognizing such gap in their training; the same was not true for CLs, instead, these leaders actually decreased even further on their NA and SA. Thus, albeit all leaders have potential to foster political skill through intentional development (e.g., Shaughnessy et al, 2017), some occupations may be targeting this skill more than others.…”

“…Furthermore, the underlying skills for health care professionals that shape the adjustment of their behaviors can differ due to the demands from each occupation. Some may innately adapt to situational demands and influence followers, while all leaders have potential to foster political skill through intentional development (Shaughnessy et al, 2017). It is important to untangle the stability of political skill across these types of health care leaders to shape more effective interventions, especially longitudinally.…”