Meeting the need or falling in line? The effect of laissez‐faire formal leaders on informal leadership

We consider the utility of two contrasting theoretical perspectives in explaining how laissez‐faire formal leaders and team member motivation to lead (MTL) influences informal leadership and team task performance. The first perspective, functional leadership theory, is the dominant lens used currently to understand informal leadership. However, we suggest that social learning theory offers a compelling alternative account. In a multiwave survey...