Informal leaders trigger jealousy in their bosses

As more and more companies opt for flatter, less hierarchical management structures, many are encouraging “informal leaders” — that is, employees who emerge as unofficial leaders within their peer groups. After all, they can improve group cohesion, boost performance and accelerate the informal leader’s own development — all without adding to costs.

But what impact do those informal leaders have on their superiors who are legitimately in charge? According to a new study from the UBC Sauder School of Business, they can trigger downward jealousy — especially when they are competent.

For the paper, titled When The Moon Is Jealous Of The Stars: Implications Of Informal Leadership For Supervisor Downward Jealousy And Their Treatment Of Other Subordinates, researchers conducted a field study involving employees from a chain hotel in Eastern China.  

They surveyed 93 work teams, each of which had one supervisor; they identified subordinates who were informal leaders, then measured their competence. They also examined supervisor behaviours, including downward jealousy, support for subordinates, and abusive supervision.

The researchers also surveyed 550 participants from the U.S. and UK who held managerial positions in a range of industries, and had subordinates who showed different levels of informal leadership. The participants then recalled specific instances of informal leadership in their subordinates, and assessed their competence. The managers also reacted to fictional scenarios involving subordinates with different levels of informal leadership and competence, and reported their feelings of jealousy.

What they found was that informal leadership regularly triggered supervisor downward jealousy, but there was a catch: the effect was significantly more pronounced when the informal leader was highly competent.

According to UBC Sauder Associate Professor and study co-author Dr. Lingtao Yu, the effect boils down to relationships. “They’re actually jealous of the relationship the informal leader has with other subordinates, because as a formal leader, it's expected they will have a strong, positive relationships with the rest of the team,” says Dr. Yu. “However, when an informal leader emerges and has a positive relationship with the rest of the team, the supervisor is more likely to feel jealous.”

While many would expect a jealous boss to undermine or abuse the informal leader, or sully their reputation to regain influence with the rest of the team, the researchers found the opposite to be true. In fact, those feelings of jealousy spurred leaders to introduce more support for their subordinates, and reduce abusive behaviours — especially if their underlings were competent.

“The formal leader actually pays full attention to the other subordinates, because ultimately they want to regain and rebuild those positive relationships with other team members,” says Dr. Yu.

“If they are competent, the formal leader will think they are more useful and the relationship is more valued. So they actually provide additional support and resources to the team in order to win over that informal leader and gain those relationships back,” says Dr. Yu.

If they feel the informal leader is less competent, however, it’s a different story altogether. “In that case, we found the former leader will not provide support. Instead, they will actually abuse that subordinate in order to demonstrate the power and status differences,” he explains. “They basically say, ‘I'm the formal leader; you need to work with me closely, not with the informal leader.’”

Dr. Yu has also published research on downward envy, which involves two parties — the supervisor and the subordinate — whereas downward jealousy necessarily involves the relationships between at least three parties, in this case the formal leader, the informal leader, and a fellow subordinate. 

Earlier studies have shown the benefits of informal leadership, but the UBC study is the first of its kind to show it isn’t universally positive and to closely examine its effect on supervisors.

Dr. Yu says as a result of the findings, businesses should continue to encourage informal leadership, but they should also offer training to formal leaders to ensure they understand the benefits and learn how to manage emotionally and behaviourally.

“We aren’t saying informal leadership is a bad thing, but we aren’t saying it’s always a good thing. It really depends how the formal leader perceives the informal leader,” says Dr. Yu, who co-authored the study with Feng Qiu of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Xueqi Wen of Tongji University, Michelle Duffy of the University of Minnesota, and Ke Michael Mai of the China Europe International Business School.

When the formal and informal leaders are both top performers, he adds, and the rest of the team is made up of low performers, the effect can be negative, and the formal leader is more likely to abuse or undermine the other team members. As a result, it’s important to avoid large gaps in performance or competence within teams.

Dr. Yu also has a message for formal leaders: “Don't get scared, and don't get upset when an informal leader emerges on your team, because it's a natural phenomenon. And it's natural when you feel a little bit uncomfortable, or you feel jealously,” he says.

“But ultimately it's about relationships, and there are many ways the formal leader can benefit, and regain the quality of their relationships with their employees — including the informal leader themselves,” says Dr. Yu. “They don't have to always consider the informal leader emergence as a threat.”