RUNNING HEAD: Charismatic Leadership

Charismatic Leadership Kaylea Algire AHRD 690 August 24, 2013

RUNNING HEAD: Charismatic Leadership

Introduction From Alexander the Great to John F. Kennedy, charismatic leadership has shaped the way the world functions and thinks about right and wrong. According to Jung and Sosik (2006) charismatic leaders contain five specific personality traits. These include: self-monitoring, self-actualization, motive to attain social power, self-enhancement, and openness to change. Mindtools.com states that charismatic leaders inspire and motivate their teams to move forward, but are generally focused on their own needs first and then their teams (Leadership Styles). Charismatic leaders have gotten a bad reputation over the years. For example, It is the first term many use to describe Hitler (Jacobsen & House, 2001, p. 95). However, like all people that have the potential to change the world there are positives and negatives to their personalities. History Academia attributes the idea of charismatic leadership to Max Weber, a German sociologist that lived around the turn of the twentieth century (Max Weber). He identified three main forms of political authority, charismatic, bureaucratic, and legal authority. Tucker (1968) describes Weberian charismatic authority as domination granted not on merit or tradition, but on gifts of grace (p.731). After its introduction into leadership literature, charismatic leadership gained in popularity through the 1970s and 1980s during the economic recession as an answer for visionary change for struggling organizations (Towler, 2005). The business community has recently expressed a new interest in charismatic leadership as the economy has struggled in the past decade. Transformational and narcissistic leadership have been used interchangeably for charismatic leadership in the leadership (Towler, 2005). While charismatic leadership was catalogued within sociology, recently psychology began using it as a variable in organizational behavior (Jacobsen & House, 2001). The psychological approach focuses more on the person and less on the social conditions that leads people to become charismatic

RUNNING HEAD: Charismatic Leadership

leaders (76). Jacobsen and House (2001) also claim that many of the leadership traits that are attributed to charismatic leaders do not present themselves unless they are in weak situations (76). According to their research, weak situations do not have clearly defined limits or expectations, giving the leader the freedom to express their personality. Conversely, strong situations are highly structured with clear expectations and outcomes. While other researchers did not mention the correlation between the situation specifically, many attributed the social influences that led to the expression of charismatic leadership, and situations of crisis appeared in several (Jacobsen & House, 2001; Towler, 2005; Jung & Sosik, 2006; Maccoby, 2007). Traits Charismatic leadership and narcissistic leadership have many similar traits. Maccoby (2007) describes a narcissistic leader as someone who has passion and charisma, creates their moral code, and motivating others around their vision of how the world should be (262-3). Similarly, Jung and Sosik (2006) believe that charismatic leaders provide vision and meaning for their followers much like a narcissistic leader does for their followers. However, they differ in where their motivations lie. Jung and Sosik (2006) provide five attributes for a charismatic leader that explains the differences. Where narcissistic leaders function without listening to external voices, charismatic leaders carefully design the behaviors in order to maintain their followers interests (14). Next, charismatic leaders develop their followers and make them feel that their needs are a high priority for the leader (Jung and Sosik, 2006, p.15). The charismatic leader must attain social power, which is why they work so hard to get their followers to feel they are important. The more successful followers are the more people want to follow the charismatic leader. Charismatic leaders value self-enhancement within themselves and their followers. Lastly, charismatic leaders create a need for change within their organizations using their followers (Jung and Sosik, 2006). For example, Jack Walsh of GE gave his followers and supporters a sense of urgency to enact his ideas that changed the management structure within GE and changed the

RUNNING HEAD: Charismatic Leadership

focus of the company. Followers had the sense that if they did not follow through with the plan then GE would fail (Maccoby, 2007). Taking all of these traits into account, a charismatic leader gains creditability and power from their followers instead of having their followers become attracted to an idea first, they are attracted to the image and personality of the leader. This is the largest difference between narcissistic leaders and charismatic leaders. Even though all of these traits seem positive; any trait can be overdone and become a negative personality characteristic (Maccoby, 2007). For example, Decelles and Pfarrer (2004) mention that several of these strengths can become weaknesses for the leader because of their coercive quality (4). Self-confidence can be empty and without merit. Charismatic leaders strong convictions can blind them to alternatives and without followers could lead to isolation and alienation in the organization. Their image obsession can lead to narcissism which does not allow them to empathize with their followers. These are just a few examples of what could happen to a charismatic leader. Jacobsen and House (2001) outline a trajectory for the rise and fall of a charismatic leader in an organization. They also use six figures in history to embody this trajectory (69). The charismatic leaders greatest strength is their ability to manipulate their followers into believing in their vision. As a strength this is their charisma, but as a weakness it is coercion and manipulation. Conclusion As the United States moves out of the worst economic downturn since the 1920s, visionary, charismatic leadership is needed now more than ever. Organizations struggled to get through the recession and fell back on time-tested standard operating procedures, but these are proving to be ineffective in todays global economy. This situation calls for leaders that have the energy and confidence to bring the country out of financial distress. Of course charismatic leaders are not the only leadership style that is capable of this feat; however, they do have a proven history of success. Even with the weaknesses like over-confidence and manipulation, their strengths can be leveraged to make

RUNNING HEAD: Charismatic Leadership

change happen. Societys conceptualization of charismatic leaders has changed since Max Weber categorized it as a leadership style; however, an exact definition of charisma is just as elusive today as it was a hundred years ago. Psychology presents a more scientific theory about charisma, but there are still years of research that needs to be completed in order for the findings to be credible.

RUNNING HEAD: Charismatic Leadership

References: DeCelles, K. A., & Pfarrer, M. D. (2004). Heroes or villains? Corruption and the charismatic leader. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 11(1), 67-77. Groves, K. S. (2005). Gender differences in social and emotional skills and charismatic leadership. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 11(3), 30-46. Jacobsen, C., & House, R. J. (2001). Dynamics of charismatic leadership: A process theory, simulation model, and tests. The Leadership Quarterly, 12, 75-112. Jung, D., & Sosik, J. J. (2006). Who are the spellbinders? identifying personal attributes of charismatic leaders. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 12(4), 12-26. Leadership styles. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_84.htm Maccoby, M. (2007). Narcissistic leaders: Who succeeds and who fails. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Max weber. (2013, August 18). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber Towler, A. (2005). Charismatic leadership development: Role of parental attachment style and parental psychological control. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 11(4), 15-25. Tucker, R. C. (1968). The theory of charismatic leadership. Daedalus, 97(3), 731-756.