Purpose: We explore person-situation interactions, which enable the emergence of individuals to informal leader status. Drawing on the concepts of situation strength and trait activation, we present insights into an emergent leader's person-situation interactions. We explore weak and strong situations through the lens of situation strength and use trait activation theory to explore how emergent leaders' traits assist them in dealing with weaker situations. Methodology/
Design: We selected 40 individuals from nine agile teams from five IT organizations using purposive sampling. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted. Each interview was undertaken with multiple agile teams’ members and lasted 45-60 minutes each. Findings: Findings suggest that weaker situations provide a more suitable context for team members to emerge as informal leaders. The emergent leader relies on emotional intelligence when dealing with risks and work-related stress; extraversion in times of workplace stress and conflict; open-mindedness to handle interpersonal and task conflicts; trustworthiness in risks and conflicting situations; intellectual humility for workplace stress; and cultural intelligence for interpersonal conflicts. Originality: Emergent leaders emerge from within teams without having a formal leadership assigned role. Little is known with regard to person-situation interactions, which enable the emergence of individuals to informal leader status. We contribute to the emergent leadership literature by exploring different person-situation interactions conducive to leader emergence.