Charismatic Leaders
Charismatic leaders are individuals who possess a magnetic personality and are able to inspire and motivate others through their strong communication skills and vision. They often exude confidence, enthusiasm, and charm, and are capable of building strong emotional connections with their followers. Charismatic leaders are known for their ability to rally people around a common goal and create a sense of unity and purpose within an organization.
7 Key excerpts on "Charismatic Leaders"
eBook - ePub- Vibrant Publishers, Dr. Carrie Picardi(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Vibrant Publishers(Publisher)
...This unique persona is referred to as charisma. Charismatic people can be found in all parts of society and everyday life, but they are particularly important as leaders. First, let’s define charisma to better understand all of its facets and its role among the most influential leaders throughout history. The term charisma refers to a personal quality in an individual or leader composed of a combination of personality traits and behaviors that creates a compelling appeal for their followers, in turn, support their vision and goals because of their deep admiration towards the leader. Although many Charismatic Leaders do hold a direct leadership role with formal followers through position and reporting relationship (e.g., business, government, religious organizations, military), they can have followers through different channels (e.g., celebrities, sports heroes, entrepreneurs, innovators, social figures) in which a formal reporting relationship does not necessarily exist. The relationship between the charismatic leader and their followers is strong. Followers perceive Charismatic Leaders to be trustworthy, credible, powerful, dynamic, and passionate, and they would carry out any request for them. Charismatic Leaders can be found throughout history in all areas of society, such as the examples of well-known Charismatic Leaders in Table 6.1. Although their leadership has been impactful in different areas of society, they all have a set of attributes, personality characteristics, and behaviors in common that depict charisma. In the next section, we will examine in-depth the attributes and personal characteristics typically embodied by Charismatic Leaders. Table 6.1 Government & Military Religion Social Justice & Civil Rights Business and Organizations Former U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Mohandas Gandhi Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Virgin CEO Sir Richard Branson Former U.S. President John F...
eBook - ePubThe Communication of Leadership
The Design of Leadership Style
- Jonathan Charteris-Black(Author)
- 2006(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...We think of Charismatic Leaders in all walks of life, from evangelical or motivational speakers, football coaches, media celebrities and politicians. Importantly, Charismatic Leaders also emerge in a wide range of different cultural settings, whereas research into transformational leadership is restricted to western settings. Each of the leaders in this book is charismatic as much as he is transformational. Transformational leaders rely on the magical quality of leadership usually known as ‘charisma’ that will be explored later on in this chapter. I propose a definition of a leader as someone who provides a sense of social purpose and motivates followers by providing explanations that correspond with unsatisfied needs. They are persuasive because they satisfy partially unsatisfied desires, hopes and aspirations. In the next sections I will explore how communication is used to arouse and satisfy the partially unsatisfied hopes and desires of followers. I will suggest that the primary means for the creation of a ‘followership’ is by communicating visions that correspond with underlying value systems and in the next two sections I will consider these two notions in more detail. Visions and leadership The concept of ‘vision’ has dominated the ‘New Leadership studies’ 19 and it has become a common assumption that leaders should also be visionaries. The ability to formulate, communicate and act upon visions has become a central component of leadership. A vision is an idealized state of affairs that does not exist at present but serves as a model or ideal for how they should be in the future. It represents a desired situation – a utopia or dream – and serves as a guide for present action and behaviour. In organizations visions are communicated in mission statements that encapsulate their desired states...
eBook - ePub- Martin Chemers(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Psychology Press(Publisher)
...Thus, the charismatic is typified by a certainty in self and a willingness to impose that certainty on others. Six behaviors were hypothesized to be directly related to the charismatic’s ability to gain the devotion of followers and to successfully turn that devotion into high levels of performance or achievement. The charismatic leader usually employs role modeling, that is, demonstrating publicly the commitment to key values and beliefs in order to instill those thoughts and feelings in followers. Gandhi’s willingness to live the life of an Indian peasant, even to making his own clothes and cleaning his own toilet, or Martin Luther King, Jr.’s courageous posture in the face of physical danger are examples of the power of modeling. Citing Bandura (1969), House said that a model’s effectiveness depends on followers’ perceptions of the model’s attractiveness, nurturance, competence, and success. Because the charismatic leader must be perceived as extraordinarily gifted (to say nothing of attractive, nurturant, successful, and competent), by virtue of traits possessed or outcomes achieved, the would-be charismatic must put a considerable amount of energy into image building, that is, creating in followers the perception of giftedness. Modern political advertising, with its emphasis on symbolic images of power, competence, and concern, clearly recognizes the pervasive role of image in leadership. Central to all discussions of charisma is the importance of the vision or mission charged to the leader and followers. Goal articulation, in transcendant, ideological, and moral terms, is the call to a higher duty. That the goal is spiritual rather than pragmatic is what differentiates transformative from transactional leadership. In addition to their lofty moral plane, the articulated goals must also be large in scope if they are to achieve the kinds of expansive effects associated with movements that revolutionize their times...
eBook - ePubLeadership
Performance Beyond Expectations
- Elesa Zehndorfer(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...82) identified Charismatic Leadership theory as that which “emphasises symbolic leader behaviour, visionary and inspirational ability, nonverbal communication, appeal to ideological values, intellectual stimulation of followers by the leader, and leader expectations for follower self-sacrifice and for performance beyond expectations”. Adopting a sociological view, Weber (1924) had earlier identified the use of rhetoric and the communication of a vision or mission as key strategies of the charismatic leader in the development of an emotional bond with, and subsequent power over, his/her followers. The presence of a vision (Bennis and Nanus, 1985; Conger and Kanungo, 1987) also appears within the management literature as the most commonly emphasized behaviour possessed by the charismatic leader, and is central to the concept of charisma (Bryman, 1992). Values-based leadership posits the importance of a passionate articulation of a vision in order to command great commitment and performance beyond expectations from followers (House, 1996; House and Shamir, 1993), in such a way that the followers’ self-worth becomes contingent on their ability to contribute successfully to the leader’s vision and mission (Bass and Avolio, 1994; House and Shamir, 1993). As discussed earlier, the power of charismatic rhetoric has been shown to be particularly strong in conditions of uncertainty, and where negative feelings such as fear of persecution are present (Burns, 1978; House, 1977, 1996; House et al., 1991; Weber, 1924). Followers are highly motivated to make personal sacrifices to contribute to the vision or mission that has been ascribed by the leader, and to also experience a strong sense of identification with the leader (House, 1996). Giampetro-Meyer et al. (1998) believe that a tremendously strong vision is required in successful leadership and that the leader needs to demonstrate an absolute commitment to, and conviction in, this vision in order to succeed...
eBook - ePubDynamics of Leadership in Public Service
Theory and Practice
- Montgomery Van Wart(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...“In some cases, contextual factors so overwhelmingly favor transformation that a leader can take advantage of them by advocating radical changes for the system. … [Yet] during periods of relative tranquility, Charismatic Leaders play a major role in fostering the need for change by creating the deficiencies or exaggerating existing minor ones” (Conger and Kanungo 1998, 52–53). Some negative charismatics may even create a sense of crisis or deficiencies for personal advancement, even though such problems do not exist. Thus, the situational demand for Charismatic Leadership is a moderating factor; long-term disappointments, outright failures, and debacles all substantially increase the chance for Charismatic Leadership but guarantee neither its emergence nor its success. Even if the environment has major deficiencies or is in a state of crisis, followers are likely to attribute charismatic characteristics only to leaders who have certain traits and behave in certain ways. First, Charismatic Leaders are dissatisfied with the status quo and are interested in changing it. They have an idealized vision of the future that is highly discrepant from the current and projected state of affairs. Charismatic Leaders are willing to articulate their bold notions of how things could be and are interested in leading others to a better future. Because of their opposition to the status quo, Charismatic Leaders are willing to be perceived by many (initially) as unconventional or proposing values different from those that have prevailed. Indeed, their advocacy is so passionate that they are willing to take personal risks or make personal sacrifices...
eBook - ePub- John Antonakis, David V. Day(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
...Depending on mission requirements, Charismatic Leaders arouse followers’ motives to accomplish the leader’s ideals and values. Followers in turn display affection and admiration for the leader, and internalize a sense of identification with the leader. House believed that Charismatic Leaders are those “who by force of their personal abilities are capable of having profound and extra-ordinary effects on followers” (p. 189). According to House, these leaders display confidence in their own abilities and in their followers, set high expectations for themselves and their followers, and show confidence that these expectations can be achieved. As a result of these behaviors, House argued that these leaders become role models and objects of identification of followers, who in turn emulate their leader’s ideals and values and are enthusiastically inspired and motivated to reach outstanding accomplishments. These types of leaders are seen as courageous, because they challenge a status quo that is seen as undesirable. Furthermore, “because of other ‘gifts’ attributed to the leader, such as extraordinary competence, the followers believe that the leader will bring about social change and will thus deliver them from their plight” (p. 204). House (1977) stated that “In actuality, the ‘gift’ is likely to be a complex interaction of personal characteristics, the behavior the leader employs, characteristics of followers, and certain situational factors prevailing at the time of the assumption of the leadership style” (p. 193). Finally, in focusing on the personal characteristics of Charismatic Leaders, House argued that they display a high degree of self-confidence, pro-social assertiveness (dominance), and moral conviction. These leaders model what they expect their followers to do, exemplify the struggle by self-sacrifice, and engage in image-building and self-promotion actions to come across as powerful and competent. The insights of House (1977) were prescient...
eBook - ePubStudying Leadership
Traditional and Critical Approaches
- Doris Schedlitzki, Gareth Edwards(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
...We will also explore some of the limitations with transformational and charismatic approaches and consider the future for these ideas. Charismatic Leadership The origins of theories such as transformational leadership are evident in early literature on charisma (Weber, 1947). The notion of charisma is semantically linked to the Greek work karis meaning ‘gift of grace’: a donation by the Holy Spirit to all believers (Marturano and Arsenault, 2008). In the apostolic writings we find several ‘charismas’, such as the ability to make prophecies, the power to perform miracles, discernments of spirits and some particular capacities to lead a society (Marturano and Arsenault, 2008). Weber (1947) also highlighted the nature of charisma as a special gift of divine origin and goes on to suggest that charisma occurs in social crises, when leaders emerge with a radical view or vision that then in turn attracts followers (Yukl, 2010). The notion of Charismatic Leadership has been drawn from Weber’s work and still remains linked to his original writing (Milosevic and Erin Bass, 2014). The aura-like perspective on charisma, for example, was developed into an organisational context in the mid-1970s through to the mid-1990s by researchers and writers such as Beyer (1999), Beyer and Browning (1999), Bryman (1992), Conger (1989), Conger and Kanungo (1987, 1998), House (1977) and Shamir et al. (1993, 1994). Some writers and researchers have suggested a behavioural view of charisma whereby one can identify what a charismatic leader does or how they behave (similar to those highlighted below in theories of transformational leadership), such as being a great orator (Bryman, 1992) or strategically using rhetoric (Heracleous and Klaering, 2014)...
