charismatic leadership
This is especially true of social movement
Jay Conger
To understand the qualities that shape percep-
tions of charisma in a leader, it is most
appropriate to start with the early twentieth-
century theories of German sociologist Max
Weber, who first applied the term “charis-
matic” to leaders. His typology of three forms
of AUTHORITY in society (the traditional, the
rational–legal, and the charismatic) established
charismatic LEADERSHIP as an important term to
describe forms of authority based on perceptions
of an extraordinary individual. In contrast to
authority where traditions or rules or elections
conferred legitimacy on individuals, the holder
of charisma is “set apart from ordinary men and
is treated as endowed with … exceptional powers
and qualities … [which] are not accessible to the
ordinary person but are regarded as of divine
origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them
the individual concerned is treated as a leader”
(Weber, 1947, p. 358–359).
Charismatic leadership is an ATTRIBUTION
made by followers. The leadership ROLE behav-
iors displayed by a person make that individual
(in the eyes of followers) not only a task leader
or a social leader and a participative or directive
leader but also a charismatic or non-charismatic
leader. The leader’s observed behavior can
be interpreted by his or her own followers as
expressions of charismatic qualities.
The behavioral components that lead to
the attribution of charismatic leadership are
interrelated, and the presence and intensity of
these characteristics are expressed in varying
degrees among different charismatic leaders.
These components are associated with three
stages of leadership. The first stage concerns
the leader’s sensitivity to the environment.
Charismatic leaders can be distinguished from
non-charismatic leaders in this stage by their
heightened sensitivity to deficiencies and poorly
exploited opportunities in the status quo. For
this reason, we find that a number of reformers
and entrepreneurs are charismatic leaders (see
ENTREPRENEURSHIP). Charismatic leaders also
tend to be highly sensitive to both the abilities
and the emotional needs of followers – the most
important resources for attaining organizational
Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, edited by Professor Sir Cary L Cooper.
Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
goals.
leaders like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, or
Caesar Chavez. In addition, internal organi-
zational deficiencies may be perceived by the
charismatic leader as platforms for advocating
radical change. Thus any context that triggers
a need for a major change and/or presents
unexploited market opportunities is relevant for
the emergence of a charismatic leader.
Stage two of the leadership process concerns
the act of formulating future goals or directions.
Charismatic leaders are distinguished by a sense
of strategic vision versus rational or purely
tactical goals. Here the word vision refers to
an idealized, highly aspirational goal that the
leader wants the organization to achieve in the
future. In articulating the vision, the charismatic
leader’s verbal messages construct reality such
that only the positive features of the future vision
and the negative features of the status quo are
emphasized. The status quo is usually presented
as intolerable, and the vision is presented in
clear specific terms as the most attractive and
attainable alternative. Charismatic leaders’ use
of rhetoric, high energy, persistence, uncon-
ventional and risky behavior, heroic deeds, and
personal sacrifices all serve to articulate their
own high motivation and enthusiasm, which
then become contagious among their followers.
In the third and final stage of the leadership
process – aligning followers’ actions to realize
goals – leaders in general build in followers a
sense of trust in their abilities and clearly de-
monstrate the tactics and behaviors required
to achieve the organization’s goals. Charismatic
leaders accomplish this by building TRUST
through personal example and RISK TAKING and
through unconventional expertise. They also
engage in exemplary acts that are perceived by
followers as involving great personal risk, cost,
and energy.
See also bureaucracy; CEOs; influence; leadership,
contingencies
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2 charismatic leadership
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