Peers, Advice, and Voice: What Keeps Informal Leaders in Power
The University of Missouri’s Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business would like to thank Raymond W. Lansford for making research like this possible.
In every organization, there are those who lead without the title. These informal leaders — trusted colleagues, go-to team members, and respected voices — shape the everyday functioning of work far more than organizational charts might suggest. They carry influence, field questions, resolve problems, and often advocate for the group.
But what exactly enables them to hold onto that influence? What keeps coworkers turning to the same person week after week, even when formal roles change? And how does that impact other employees’ path to leadership?
A new study from researchers at the University of Missouri’s Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business takes a closer look at exactly that. Unlike prior research, which focused on how informal leaders emerge, Ann C. Peng, Trulaske’s Raymond W. Lansford Distinguished Professor of Leadership, and John Schaubroeck, a professor of management at Trulaske, explored how these leaders sustain their leadership roles within peer groups. The results offer fresh insight into the hidden mechanics of workplace dynamics.
Peer Expectations Surpass Personal Traits
Most leadership models emphasize individual agency traits like charisma, confidence or initiative as the key to sustaining influence. This study challenges that view. According to the findings, maintaining informal leadership is less about self-driven behaviors and more about the expectations and actions of peers.
“To quickly respond to changing demands in a competitive business environment, organizations are increasingly relying on their employees’ taking initiatives, including acting like leaders even if they are not in a formal leadership role (i.e., informal leadership),” Peng said. “While in theory every employee can become an informal leader, it is common that groups defer to one or a couple of members for leadership. This study thus aims to understand why the informal leadership structure tends to be relatively stable in work groups.”
The research draws on “expectation states theory,” which posits that once someone is perceived as capable within a group, peers begin to assign them a set of performance expectations. These expectations aren’t simply internal beliefs, but rather they lead to real opportunities, such as being asked for advice or being expected to speak on behalf of the team. In effect, the group sustains the leader’s status by giving them consistent chances to lead.
This creates a reinforcing loop: Perception leads to opportunity, which in turn reinforces the original perception. Leadership, then, is not simply enacted — it is continually granted.
Informal Power Runs Through Advice
One of the most powerful signals of informal leadership is who coworkers approach for guidance. The researchers used the term “advice network centrality” to describe how often employees were sought for work-related input. Unsurprisingly, those seen as informal leaders occupied the center of these advice networks — and remained there.
Being sought for advice didn’t just reflect influence, it created a channel for greater impact. Informal leaders who were frequently approached became more likely to speak up to formal leaders, which researchers call “upward voice.” This includes offering suggestions, raising concerns or requesting changes on behalf of the team.
The informal leader, equipped with peer input, becomes the group’s ambassador. This role enhances their visibility and credibility with both colleagues and management. In other words, being asked for advice makes them more likely to speak up, and speaking up further entrenches their leadership position. Unfortunately, this sometimes blocks others seeking a leadership path.
“Prior research and theory emphasize the personal agency of informal leaders. People who are more motivated to lead often emerge as informal leaders,” Peng said. “Our research, however, reveals the hidden group dynamics that may prevent more members from taking leadership initiatives, even if they want to. We found that once an employee established him/herself as an informal leader, others would habitually turn to this employee for work-related advice and trust him/her to relay their concerns to the manager. The interactions between other group members and the informal leader, in turn, reinforce the existing leadership structure over time, making it difficult for new leaders to emerge.”
The Social Undercurrent: Why Friendships Amplify Influence
The study also uncovered a subtler form of capital: friendship. Informal leaders who had strong personal connections — measured by how often they socialized with peers outside of work — were more likely to be approached for advice. Why? Trust.
Colleagues are more inclined to share concerns or ask for help when they believe the listener has their best interests in mind. Off-duty interactions create a sense of safety that formal processes cannot replicate. That trust, in turn, fuels the cycle of leadership reinforcement.
Organizations often overlook this social dynamic. Yet it suggests that influence is not only about competence, but also about emotional credibility. Those who are both respected and liked have more staying power as informal leaders.
Can Speaking Up Create Leadership?
Interestingly, the researchers also examined whether upward voice could cause leadership status, rather than just result from it. While there was some evidence to support this idea, the effect was less consistent. In short, speaking up can reinforce a leader’s role, but it may not be enough to create it in the first place.
This has important implications for how companies interpret visibility. Simply encouraging employees to “speak up” may not automatically result in greater influence unless peers already see them as credible leaders.
Organizational Implications
For managers and HR professionals, these findings offer several actionable takeaways:
- Recognize and support informal leaders. These individuals act as intermediaries, often surfacing issues and driving change from within the team. Even without formal authority, they wield real influence.
- Understand the stabilizing effect of peer dynamics. Once someone gains leadership status, peer expectations tend to reinforce it. While that stability is powerful, it can also become a barrier for others. Organizations must look beyond formal promotions to the informal structures that shape everyday interactions.
- Value the social side of work. Encouraging collaboration and social connection may indirectly shape who gains influence and how information flows across teams. Fostering trust among peers isn't just a morale booster. It’s a strategic tool.
- Don’t overestimate the power of voice alone. While upward voice is important, it is most effective when supported by peer legitimacy. Employees who are encouraged to speak up need peer backing to convert visibility into influence.
“To encourage more employees to take leadership initiatives, organizations must take deliberate actions, as opposed to letting the group processes unfold naturally,” Peng said. “Managers, for example, can intentionally assign different members to take charge of various work activities, breaking the group’s tendency to maintain the existing leadership structure. Managers may also occasionally form new work groups to allow more employees, especially those who were not granted such opportunities in their previous groups, to emerge as informal leaders.”
“How is leadership maintained? A longitudinal mediation model linking informal leadership to upward voice through peer advice seeking” was co-authored by Dongchul Kim, and Wei Zeng and was published in the “Journal of Applied Psychology.”
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