HE looked down on himself because he was not a college graduate. That, however, did not stop Nor from doing really great work—way better than some of those with college degrees. We recognized his potential, so we gave him a team to supervise temporarily because people respected him and followed his lead. Soon enough, his team came up with ingenious and innovative ways of creating content which the whole group adopted. He had a can-do attitude and looked for creative ways of developing content. Later, he became a workgroup lead.
There are many people in your organization who do not have an official title, but they do the work nonetheless. These are informal leaders who understand that leadership does not stem from a piece of paper but from their ability to influence people to do the work. Just like Nor, who was initially not given an official position but acted and influenced people as if he was in authority. And people followed him because they saw that he understood what he was doing, and he knew the direction he was taking them.
There are many people like Nor in your organization. As a leader, you need to understand the informal organization and how you can leverage on these informal leaders to get your message across. Even if you have transparency measures in place, it is not a guarantee that people will come to you and tell you everything. You need to identify who these influencers are because they are the key to ensuring your vision is realized even to the grassroots level.
But how do you identify these informal leaders?
One of the indicators of an informal leader is their organizational savvy. They want to be mentored by people in the organization and aspire to become like one of the leaders. They understand the pervading culture in the company, and they can sift through the layers of bureaucracy and know how to penetrate or even avoid them altogether. They understand how things work in the office, especially who they can ask to get the work done. They build a network based on mutual respect and collaboration rather than for selfish gains.
Informal leaders understand people’s motivations and use that knowledge to make people work toward a common goal. They are unifiers and are not divisive. And at the heart of their influence is their credibility and how much people are willing to follow them and listen to what they are saying. They genuinely want to help others, not only because they have the capacity to help, but because they are willing to go out on a limb for someone without thinking of anything in return. They work well with people because they understand that anything done in kindness will go a long way for the whole group.
These leaders also have a deep-seated desire to get to know others and build connections with people from different walks of life. They are aware that work needs to get done but they also know that people are more important than KPIs and profit. They realize that the best investment they have is the one they make on people. Because they understand that the best foundation for a strong and vibrant leadership is a strong and resilient workforce behind them.
These leaders also have integrity. Integrity is doing the right thing even if no one is looking. Their consistency to follow rules and being stable make them reliable and trustworthy. That is why others readily ask for their opinion or ask for their help because they have a firm grasp on what needs to be done and how to do them.
People also look up to them when things are uncertain and even confide in them their fears and anxieties. As a leader, an advantage of knowing these informal leaders is having a sounding board on what people might think of a new policy. They can also give valuable insights on underlying attitudes and viewpoints which are not readily noticeable by senior leadership. Leadership can then fine-tune their policies and direction to take into consideration common sentiments. This saves time and makes it easier to cascade policy in a manner acceptable to most people.
Another good thing about informal leaders is that they focus on the solution and not the problem. Moreover, they become part of the solution. They do not go around highlighting the difficulties, or becoming overwhelmed with the issues, but take it upon themselves to look for creative ways to deal with the problem. They rally people to actively look for solutions and enjoin everyone to get on board with what the team agrees on pursuing.
Finally, informal leaders are agile and adaptable to new ways of working. They are not afraid to look for better ways of doing things around the office. They see new opportunities for making work easier and help everyone to work smarter, not harder. They are excited at the very thought of helping someone do their work in a more efficient manner, but they also come across as insightful and helpful.
As a leader, your role is to ensure that you know who these informal leaders are in your organization. You can do more by earning their confidence and capitalizing on their influence so your vision can be communicated better, and you can also receive immediate feedback on how to share your vision so that it resonates with everyone in your team.
All this just goes to show that you do not need to be placed in a position of authority to influence people. Leadership is not given to you on a piece of paper. Just because you are the manager does not mean people will follow you. It is earned with unwavering trust, genuine empathy and hard work. And just like what my previous mentor has taught me, the best compliment you will ever receive is when people put you in a higher position than where you really are.