Formal leadership: characteristics, advantages and disadvantages

Much of the success or lack of it 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 start to function in almost total harmony.

In this article we will deal the main characteristics of formal leadership, one of the most common types of leadership.

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What is formal leadership?

Formal leadership is based on a leader who has been chosen through a procedure where it becomes clear 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 it easy for them to manage groups, but this is not always the case.

For someone to be considered a formal leader it is a requirement that her leadership has not been obtained spontaneously; If so, then we would be in the presence of an informal leader, who is nothing more than that subject who plays the role of leader within a social group without any procedure granting him that post.

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The benefits of this type of leadership

This is a brief summary about the benefits that formal leadership brings to companies and teams.

1. Externally assigned power

This makes it easy for the formal leader to control the members of his team, since they must obey not because they necessarily like to do so, but because it is their duty do it. This benefit is mainly useful when the members of the work team are not familiar with a subject of which the natural leader is an expert.

2. It is based on a practical leader

Taking into account 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 deem necessary for the best performance of their teamThey do not see their judgment greatly affected by emotions or personal relationships.

3. Greater effectiveness to achieve specific objectives

Groups that have a formal leader figure within their ranks tend to reach a level of quite good effectiveness, thanks to the fact that the degree of control exercised by the formal leader over his subordinates is very high.

Its disadvantages

Not all are positive aspects; formal leadership also has several disadvantages.

1. Employee demotivation level

In general, people are not very motivated when they are forced to do an activity that they do not like. This usually occurs in teams where the figure of the formal leader exists.

2. Communication problems

Speaking the same language does not guarantee a 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 way, which can generate a conflict for his message to be well received.

3. Increased probability of hostile treatment

Although it is not an exact science, there is a greater probability of tyranny in work teams based on formal leadership. It may be due to whoever is a formal leader focuses on power more than necessary and loses sight of the collective objective, hoping then that the members of his team will pay homage to him.

Differences with natural leadership

The antagonistic term of formal leadership is natural leadership. E 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 solely based on his personality characteristics that make others follow you and take you into account as a authority.

Natural leaders tend to be more empathetic than their counterparts, since they 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 than that of formal leader, taking into account the significant differences in the performance of the equipment. In the best of cases, it can happen that whoever acts as a formal leader also does so 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.

1. Recognition of your role

The intrinsic characteristic that characterizes formal leaders is that their control over the group has been established externally. In this way they form part of the explicit hierarchy of the medium 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 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 earn their keen**.

3. Chain of command

This means that for the formal leader figure to exist, there must be a hierarchical order that is responsible for differentiating the different ranks within the environment.

Bibliographic references:

• Nye, J. c. (2011). The qualities of the leader. Barcelona: Paidos.
• Schultz, D. Q. Schultz, Sydney E. (2010). Psychology and work today: an introduction to industrial and organizational psychology. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. p. 171.