This piece of writing will discuss the negative effects of charismatic leadership and use

Belbin’s theory of group roles to show how to effectively lead a team. It will first start by
defining the key terms and later on discuss the questions in depth in the main body. The
writing will end by giving a clear conclusion.

Charismatic leaders are often identified in times of crisis and exhibit exceptional devotion to
and expertise in their fields. They are often people with a clear vision in business or politics
and the ability to engage with a large audience, Barry, D. (1991).

The charismatic leadership style relies on the charm and persuasiveness of the leader.
Charismatic leaders are driven by their convictions and commitment to their cause.
Charismatic leaders often try to make the status quo better, while transformational leaders
focus on transforming organizations into the leader’s vision. A charismatic leadership
definition is incomplete if it does not focus on the leader personally. More than other popular
leadership styles, charismatic leadership depends on the personality and actions of the leader,
not the process or structure.

By definition a charismatic leader, is an individual who uses use their personality and
communication style to gain the admiration of followers. Typically, they can
communicate effectively, possess emotional sensitivity, put a considerable emphasis on
social ties, and can maintain emotional control in numerous situations that may cause
stress or troubling emotions, Blenkinsop, (2007).

Belbin theory was discovered and developed by theory was suggested by Belbin in 1981.
Belbin believes that each of us possesses a pattern of behaviour that characterises one
person's behaviour in relationship to another in facilitating the progress of a team. Dr
Meredith Belbin defines a team role as: A tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with
others in a particular way Barrick (2008). Everybody has a tendency to behave in a particular
way when working with other people, which does not mean, of course, that they will always
behave like that.

The significance of Belbin’s theory is that by observing real teams over a period of several
years, the manger can learn how to predict whether a team would succeed or fail, just by
knowing the mix of roles within the group. They could also make a failing group succeed by
adding somebody with the right role or make a successful group fail by taking away a vital
supporting role. They also found that if team members identify, share and discuss their team
roles then this improves how people work and live together. They refined things as they went
along, so some roles have more than one name.

Some negative effects of charismatic leadership are discussed below

Under charismatic leadership there is too much reliance on a leader. The charismatic
leader wins over the employees of the company with his motivational leadership style.
While employees may find inspiration in this type of leadership, they may also rely too
heavily on the person in charge. The employees begin associating the success of the
company solely with the leader. They may fail to see that all employees are a valuable
part of making the company a success. This saddles the leader with a huge responsibility
for both keeping the company running and motivating the staff.

While many charismatic leaders are able to win over the employees, those who take on
the role for self-serving reasons may fail to get all employees to buy into their intentions.
Charisma alone is not enough to make a quality leader for a company. The leader must
have the best intentions of the company at heart and have other leadership qualities to
back up the charisma. Employees are often able to pick up on the fact that a charismatic
leader only cares about his own success or lacks the knowledge to actually run the
company.

A charismatic leader sometimes gets so caught up in his control that he is unable to

clearly see potential dangers with the company. The confidence he has in his abilities
makes him feel that the company's success will continue indefinitely. If he does not have
any other management personnel on the same level with the same information, he may
potentially miss a threat to the company's financial welfare.

A charismatic leader often retains the majority of the control in the office because he
believes in himself so much. He may have difficulty turning over control to others
because he enjoys having the control or doesn't feel anyone else is able to handle the
duties like he can. This type of situation potentially leaves the company without any
knowledgeable successors should the charismatic leader leave the company. Without
giving others the authority and freedom to take some of the control, the company's vision
for the future is limited to the ideas of the leader. This type of environment may also
squash some of the creative problem solving from other employees in the company,
particularly if any ideas presented are pushed aside by the leader, Blenkinsop (2007).
Charismatic leadership resembles performance art in many respects. The manager is, in a
sense, "acting" as he shares his vision with his employees who often become enamoured
with the show. While this is clearly an effective way of inspiring workers, it can be
dangerous when the leader is disingenuous. Unfortunately, there are charismatic leaders
who motivated to serve themselves first and are not above sacrificing the needs of their
employees and companies in order to get what they desire.

The creation of illusion is often part of a charismatic leader's magic. Even sincere managers
of this type can create falsities. They can lead their employees to believe that they as a team
are infallible and uniquely qualified to succeed in their business. This illusion is subject to
fall apart should the leader or even another employee decide to leave the company or a
project fail to produce desired results. The charismatic leader, therefore, must remain
grounded in reality in order for his management to succeed.

The charismatic leader of a business can get carried away with himself. The leader’s ego
often inflates due to the adoring attention of the employees who follow him devotedly. The
result of his high belief in himself can be the false impression that he can do no wrong. This
can cause this type of leader to make decisions based on the leader’s whims rather than
careful study. The leader will not bother to gain expert opinions due to his belief that his
own knowledge is sufficient.

A team is not a bunch of people with job titles, but a congregation of individuals, each of
whom has a role which is understood by other members. Research showed that the most
successful teams were made up of a diverse mix of behaviours. Dr Meredith Belbin and his
team discovered that there are nine clusters of behaviour these were called Belbin Team
Roles. Each team needs access to each of the nine Belbin Team Role behaviours to become a
high performing team. However, this doesn't mean that every team requires nine people!
Most people will have two or three Belbin Team Roles that they are most comfortable with,
and this can change over time. Each Belbin Team Role has strengths and weaknesses, and
each Team Role has equal importance, Benne, (2002).
By using Belbin, individuals have a greater self-understanding of their strengths, which leads
to more effective communication between colleagues and managers. Great teams can be put
together, existing teams can be understood and improved, and everyone can feel that they
are making a difference in the workplace, Allport, (2000).
In conclusion, in as much as much as charismatic leadership has some good side of it, it can
prove to be a challenge to an organisation in terms of succeeding. The fact that many
charismatic leaders get to have a notion of having the control or does not feel anyone else is
able to handle the duties like he can. This can end up putting the company at potentially
risk, as the company might not have a knowledgeable successor to take up the leadership
role.
REFERENCES

Allport, G. W. (2000). Personality: A psychological interpretation. New York: Holt, Rinehart,

& Winston.

Aritzeta, A., Swailes, S., & Senior, B. (2007). Belbin‘s team role model: Development,
validity and applications for team building. Journal of Management Studies.

Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (2008). The Big Five personality dimensions and job
performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology.

Barrick, M. R., Stewart, G. (1998). Relating member ability and personality to work-team
processes and team effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology.

Barry, D. (1991). Managing the bossless team: Lessons in distributed leadership.

Organizational Dynamics.

Belbin, R. M. (2011). Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail. London: Heineman.

Benne, K. D., & Sheats, P. (2002). Functional roles of group members. Journal of Social
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Blenkinsop, N., & Maddison, A. (2007). Team roles and team performance in defence