The best leaders can sometimes be overlooked in favour of people who "fit in" when groups are under threat, according to University of Queensland research.
School of Psychology Professor Michael Hogg found when groups - ranging from small work groups to larger teams - were facing some kind of crisis, leaders were often picked on how well they embodied group characteristics rather than their leadership abilities.
Both laboratory and field tests were conducted through the School's Centre for Research on Group Processes. The Centre's research focuses on how peoples' attitudes and behaviour change when they become group members.
"This social identity or feeling of belonging can be a deliberate action but mostly, it is an automatic, sub-conscious adjustment in the way we think and act within groups," Professor Hogg said.
The research represents a new insight into how cohesive groups may sometimes have poor leaders. If group norms do not capture good leadership properties, then cohesive groups will endorse as leaders people who are not necessarily effective leaders, according to Professor Hogg.
Funded by a three-year, $121,000 Australian Research Council large grant and an $8,500 UQ Enabling Grant, the project field-tested the way leaders were endorsed among small groups of strangers surviving in the bush for three weeks on Outward Bound courses.
"These groups were under stress and were looking for leaders. Our study found the people with the best leadership skills were often overlooked in favour of people who best encapsulated the group norms," Professor Hogg said.
Some common characteristics of good leaders were the ability to initiate new ways of thinking, weigh up information and make decisions and mobilise other people, Professor Hogg said.
"Previous research has shown that when groups become overly cohesive or ?cliquey' they can engage in ?groupthink'; awful decisions can be made. This latest research suggests the leadership perception and endorsement processes within such groups may be the reason behind this," Professor Hogg said.
There were two main ways companies could ensure better leadership selection in times of crisis, he said.
"Firstly, by ensuring that all members of management groups have good leadership skills to start with and secondly, by leaders themselves making an effort to embody group norms - particularly if the group is very cohesive. This may translate into something as simple as having a drink with co-workers on a Friday night," Professor Hogg said.
For more information, contact Professor Michael Hogg (telephone 07 3365 6430) or Shirley Glaister in UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2339).
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