Formal leadership is an officially designated role with authority, such as a CEO or teacher, responsible for organizing resources and motivating a team. In contrast, informal leadership emerges from peers who inspire and motivate others without formal authority. The key difference lies in the formal leader's power to enforce discipline and rewards, while informal leaders rely on personal influence and shared goals.

1. What is the difference between formal and informal leadership?
Solution
Formal Leadership:Formal leadership is where a person is officially designated as the leader of a
group. Examples of this kind of leadership are CEO of a company, a teacher at a school, the
captain of a sporting team and the head of a department. It's the formal leader’s job to organize
the available resources, work out the logistics and motivate the members of the team to carry out
their tasks to the best of their abilities.
Informal Leadership :An informal leader is a person who's not officially appointed as the head
of a group. However, the other members look to him for motivation and inspiration. Though the
CEO is the formal leader of a company, the employees may look up to a colleague who, they
believe, shares their goals and visions and has some knowledge or experience that will help them
realize their goals. Although these leaders are not in a formal position of leadership, they are
recognized as leaders by their peers.
Difference between formal and informal leadership:
Formal leaders have authority and certain rights and privileges that informal leaders lack.
Consider the case of a company where the CEO is the formal leader and an employee is the
informal leader. The formal leader wields power over the group and has the authority to
discipline and punish errant members. Her authority also gives her the ability to give rewards to
the group. The informal leader, on the other hand, does can't formally take action against any
members of the group, nor is he able to reward his teammates. He has to rely on open
communication, a shared vision, guidance and charisma. The informal leader has to lead through
example, individual behavior and personality.