Lately I have been thinking a lot about the difference between formal and informal leadership. Let’s say that ‘formal’ leadership refers to the assignment of a leadership – or followership – position. Most people have a boss or are the boss; everyone who wants to be part of an organizational hierarchy has to accept, respect and follow – or be - a person with formal authority.
Then there are ‘informal’ leadership relationships, those that develop naturally within a group of people where one or more people take the lead, and the others follow them naturally. These ‘informal’ leader/ follower dynamics are quite interesting, because their members do not adhere to any external rules or organized structures. Followers more or less choose their roles, and leaders emerge by setting the tone for the group and making the decisions. It is up to these informal leaders – and not to organizational rules and hierarchies – to demand the respect and trust that they need to accomplish a certain task.
Informal, Non-Human Leadership
Maybe I have been thinking about this topic because there was a lot of hype about the dog-whisperer in the news. Cecar Millan is known to be the best dog trainer in the world, and his philosophy is fascinating yet basic: dogs are happiest when they have a strong leader that they can follow.
However, he claims that they will only follow a stable leader. As opposed to humans, that is, who will also follow unstable leaders. That is how much integrity dogs have.
Having trained an extremely rambunctious 12-month old, 50+ lbs Alpha Male dog myself, I can wholeheartedly confirm Millan’s point of view. The absurd helplessness, deep frustration and pure rage that I first felt in the face of my own lack of power over him helped shape the outlook on my personal leadership style. It wasn’t until I realized what he needed that he started to genuinely obey me: a strong, consistent leader. But I had to fight for his obedience and loyalty very, very hard.
Well, in the rather rationalized environment of human-to-human leadership, managers and leaders can rely on their position and job title to help gain respect and power. We are immersed in a context where we are forced to follow those leaders that have been assigned to us. Dogs, on the other hand, don’t know these kinds of social and organizational pressures; they sniff out the stable from the unstable people and follow them accordingly.
If they had a choice, would they follow YOU?
Following on from this, I came up with a thought-experiment by asking: if people had a choice, would they follow their bosses? If human team members were a pack of dogs and their manager the lead dog for just one day: would they still obey his requests, respect and follow him? Or, would they overthrow, or ignore her or simply chase her away and choose a different leader? In other words: if the restraints – and protection - of organizational life would disappear for one day, leaving the question of leader- and followership to pure and naked nature: how many of the bosses would still be considered as such? Just consider for one moment: If you are a boss/manager/leader of others: do you think they would still follow you without your formal authority?
If yes: Why? If No: Why Not?
Hiding behind a job title, or being a True Leader?
The dog-comparison works well for this experiment because dog behavior is a visible manifestation of those animal instincts that humans also possess. Of course, human life has become quite sophisticated and complex, rendering us capable of much more than any other animal. But our knowledge can deceive us, our social systems create an unnatural environment for some fundamental processes. The structure of formal leadership positions in organizations can make us forget that we still have to fight for the respect and followership of others.
Our job titles and place in the hierarchy can make it too easy to insist on our right to lead without being true leaders. That’s why it can be helpful and, at least, interesting to ask oneself why others should follow us. How much stability, trust and direction we really provide to be worthy the followership of others.
Comments from human-to-human, as well as human-to-animal leaders are welcome! (:-)
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