Many of our colleagues rise to lead through influence rather than authority, which is called emergent leadership. Typically, there are two ways to do this: by achieving goals or demonstrating leadership traits. These are called achievement and ascriptive leadership.
Ascriptive leadership occurs when a person demonstrates traits that we all typically imagine when conjuring a vision of leadership: being an intelligent, dynamic, and motivated person. The paper calls this ascriptive leadership because others ascribe leadership traits to a person by observing them.
Achievement leadership means someone rises to become a leader in others’ eyes by their accomplishments and their ability to lead the team to attain goals.
In the real world, in the office, in person, a leader has an opportunity to show ascriptive leadership in many different situations, and team members pick up on these. Ascription is more easily noted than achievement.
In the virtual world, studies have shown leaders distinguish themselves “in logistical coordination rather than through expertise…” Monitoring team progress and coordinating team members also buttressed a leader’s standing. Achievement outshines ascription.
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