The emergence mechanism of informal leadership in technology enterprises

Through a multi-wave and social network survey of Pony.ai employees, 298 “individual-peer” dyadic datasets were collected.

Polynomial regression and response surface analyses revealed four congruence conditions: high MTL–high ILT, high MTL–low ILT, low MTL–high ILT, and low MTL–low ILT. Compared to other three congruence conditions, high MTL–high ILT congruence yielded the strongest trust relationships and the highest informal leadership emergence. Trust relationships mediated the relationship between MTL–ILT congruence and informal leadership emergence.