Formal Leadership: Characteristics, Advantages And Disadvantages
Much of the success or lack thereof in a company or team has to do with leadership. This element can make a group of people who previously could not coordinate their work to reach a goal, begin to function in almost total harmony.
In this article we will discuss the main characteristics of formal leadership one of the most common types of leadership.
Formal leadership is based on a leader who has been chosen through a procedure where It is evident that he has the authority to exercise leadership functions over a group of people There may be leaders in various contexts, such as politics, sports, academics, etc.…
Formal leaders should possess certain personality characteristics that make them easy to manage groups, but that is not always the case.
So that someone can be considered a formal leader It is a requirement that his leadership has not been obtained spontaneously ; If so, then we would be in the presence of an informal leader, which is nothing more than that individual who plays the role of leader within a social group without any procedure granting him that position.
This is a brief summary of the benefits that formal leadership brings to companies and teams.
1. Externally assigned power
This makes it easy for the formal leader to control his team members, since These must obey not because they necessarily like to do so, but because it is their duty do it. This benefit is mainly useful when team members are not familiar with a topic in which the natural leader is an expert.
2. It is based on a practical leader
Considering that formal leaders generally reached that position thanks to their knowledge and not their ability to please people, It is easier for them to give orders and take the measures they consider necessary for the best performance of their team they do not see their judgment greatly affected by emotions or personal relationships.
3. Greater effectiveness in achieving specific objectives
Groups that have a formal leader within their ranks tend to achieve a fairly good level of effectiveness, thanks to the fact that the degree of control that the formal leader exercises over his subordinates is very high.
Its disadvantages
Not everything is positive aspects; formal leadership also has several disadvantages
1. Level of demotivation in employees
In general, people are not very motivated when they are forced to do an activity that they do not like. This usually happens in teams where there is a formal leader.
2. Communication problems
Speaking the same language does not guarantee clear understanding The way things are communicated is also important. It is common for the formal leader to communicate his wishes in a somewhat dry manner, which can create a conflict for her message to be well received.
Although it is not an exact science, there is a greater probability of tyranny in work teams based on formal leadership. It may be because someone who acts as a formal leader focuses on power too much and loses sight of the collective objective, expecting then that his or her team members will pay homage to him or her.
The differences with natural leadership
The antagonistic term for formal leadership is natural leadership. And it occurs when a subject manages to exercise the functions of leader within a certain group of people without the need to have obtained a position through any prior procedure and without the need for an established chain of command.
The natural leader uses his virtue for interpersonal relationships; it is only based on his personality characteristics that he makes others follow him and take him into account as an authority.
Natural leaders tend to be more empathetic than their counterparts, since The team follows him because of his charisma and not necessarily because of the position he occupies Although the role of natural leader may be more appreciated, it does not have to be as efficient as that of formal leader, taking into account the significant differences in team performance. In the best of cases, it may happen that someone who acts as a formal leader also acts as a natural leader; This scenario would be ideal for any member of a work team.
The characteristics of a formal leader
Next we will see the typical behaviors of leaders who embrace formal leadership.
The intrinsic characteristic that characterizes formal leaders is that his control over the group has been established externally In this way they are part of the explicit hierarchy of the environment in which they work. It is common for formal leaders to reach that position based on their academic achievements and experience.
2. Control over the group
The role of formal leader brings with it the ease of command, taking into account that the person who holds said position of leader can give direct orders to subordinates,** without the need to win their affection**.
3. Chain of command
This means that for the figure of a formal leader to exist, there must be a hierarchical order that is responsible for differentiating the different ranks within the environment.
