Very true… There are two elements in leadership… formal and informal power. Formal power is dictated by command-and-control structures adopted from our military past. It assumes that those being lead cannot and should not make decisions for themselves or for their team’s benefit. Informal leadership is democratic and earned. It is developed from the heartfelt and social relationships one builds with one’s colleagues. It is founded in mutual trust and respect for each other and for the whole.

While we find it hard outside of a holocratic structure to eschew our command-and-control ways, a leader with formal power must also have informal power if s/he expects an impact from his/her leadership. But, even then, even with informal power, the leader’s job is to inform and influence and let his/her team make the decisions needed to move forward as a self-organized team. If the formal leader is unable to do this, then, realizing the value a self-organized team can provide will be lost and the formal leader will simply not get the best out of his/her team.