Every organisation has people with capacity to influence the decisions of others, although they hold no formal position of authority. Such employees usually have no power over those who choose to follow their lead.
Their influence and ability to motivate others is not based on their title or formal position in the hierarchy. But they are worth listening to because of their perceived experience and reputation among peers.
Such leaders can benefit organisations and employees in a number of ways;
Improved networking and communication: according to the Vylogue portal, leadership networks have the ability to assess patterns of information sharing and networking across the organisation and increase connections. They help to connect together parts of the organisation that don’t talk to each other.
The site goes on to show that informal leaders remain focused- such leadership networks include broader networks and a much more diverse collection of senior leaders across the organisation. They remain focused and improve goal sharing and communication between various parts of an organisation without a massive restructure.
The influence of informal leaders is not based on their title or formal position. Net photo.
Informal leaders are different from the crowd because they are highly opinionated. Although this works well in most cases, sometimes there may be situations of a clash of ideas. So companies should be a bit careful and give adequate weightage to what they propose.
Becoming an informal leader
Prince Aimé Murara, a leader for youth and the deputy secretary-general, Education for Nations and Humanitarian Africa (ENHA)-Girubuntu says becoming an informal leader requires to work on building your reputation and that it all starts with setting yourself as credible, which will make others consider listening to you under certain circumstances.
"Incorporating this into your day-to-day activities will boost your reputation and your competence as an informal leader. Besides, it will also help one create a journey that will broaden your leadership capacity in general,” Murara says.
Marie Ann Mukaneza, a career coach says being an informal leader means an individual is good at building relationships, as well as making friends with different kinds of people.
In addition to this, she says one is able to understand the organisation, as they get to know well how things work.
"The most important aspect of being an informal leader is that one is able to share their knowledge with others generously and without limits,” she says.
To become an informal leader, Mathis Nkeeto, an educator believes that there is a need to be authentic in whatever you do and be willing to learn all the time.
Under normal circumstances, people shun those who are authoritative, he says, and that for this reason, it’s ideal to always present yourself as someone who is willing to learn all the time.
Moving forward, he says becoming an informal leader requires always striving, and focusing on being a solution provider.
"This is a great skill because it shows how one is willing to uncover problems and seek solutions with an aim of addressing them.”
Mukaneza points out that demonstrating creativity and innovation is also vital when it comes to problem-solving.
"This is so because, with this skill, it means that one considers the use of existing resources, as they are in a position to think about ideas outside the box,” she adds.
Mukaneza also says establishing collaborative relationships is important with building trust. "One can ensure this by simply building good relationships that work toward a shared goal.”