Leadership Skills

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Part A

Describe charismatic leadership in your own words.

Charismatic leadership is characterised by a leader who uses his or her communication

abilities, persuasiveness, and charisma to influence others. Charismatic influential, because of
their volume to attach with people on a deep level, are especially helpful in corporations that
are experiencing a crisis or trying to go forward. Leaders that use charismatic leadership
incline to have a clear visualisation in business or government and the ability to address a big
spectators to influence people with a persuasive speech. There are various pros and cons of
this leadership style. These leaders have the ability to motivate and inspire a workforce, these
creates a sense of positive change, and also facilitates teamwork and collaboration (Avolio
and Yammarino, 2013).

Charismatic leaders sometimes demonstrate narcissism and shift their focus from individuals
to themselves and the leaders sometimes become self-serving. The major characteristics of
these leaders include communication, maturity, humility, confidence, good listening skills,
and many others. Charismatic leaders inspire and encourage their followers to perform at a
high level and to be devoted to the company or the cause they are leading. People that are
charismatic motivate others to take action. To attain their aims, they encourage people to
believe in what they are doing (Grabo, et al., 2017).

Part B

Explain what is meant by the statement that charismatic leaders use active impression
management with their followers to support their image. Provide and elaborate on one
(1) original example.

It is said that charismatic leaders actively control their image by surrounding themselves with
dramatic and mystical symbols that strengthen the leader's reputation as a larger-than-life
person. Impression management is considered to be the process where people make an
efficient attempt to affect the perception of an individual, event or object. Impression
management effectively helps charismatic leaders to perform different functions and grant
them organisation powers. This states that these leaders practice impression management to
develop an image of competence and faith in them as a leader (Aggarwal and Krishnan,
2013).

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This leadership style can be evaluated with the example of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin
Luther King. These leaders expected their followers to be swallow and has non-violent
character. Gandhi’s dress symbolised the simplicity and discipline for changing the world. In
the same manner, such charismatic leaders include some instruments of self-promotion to
become effective, competent and innovative. It has been contended that charismatic leaders
engage in impression supervision tactics in order to enhance their image of competence,
boosting subordinate acquiescence and trust.

Part C

1. In your own words, describe what it means to be an authentic leader.2. Why is

authenticity important for leaders? Provide two (2) reasons.

Authentic leadership is a administration style in which leaders are genuine, self-aware, and
open. An authentic leader is able to produce loyalty and faith in her workers by continuously
demonstrating who she really is as a person, and how she sensations about their performance.
The four major components of these leaders include self-awareness, relational transparency,
balanced processing and internalised moral viewpoint. It's important for organisations to be
authentic. When it comes to working, people who are authentic bring their whole selves to
the table and engage in the workplace fully and honestly. Employers in organisations that
value authenticity are more likely to be engaged and passionate. They also tend to have a
more psychologically secure atmosphere. The two reasons for their importance include:

 These leaders have a positive outlook on life and are truthful and open while doing
interacting with other people (Crawford, et al., 2020).
 They develop a relationship of trust with their subordinates and inspire passion for a
project, which allows for excellent individual and team performance.

Part D

Why is charismatic leadership considered a double-edged sword that requires careful

monitoring to avert abuse? Provide two (2) reasons and one (1) original example
illustrating this phenomenon.

As per the views of Eisenbeiß and Boerner (2013), leaders with a high level of charisma are
seen as dangerous and need to be closely monitored in order to avoid abuses. This idea is
based on the fact that charismatic leadership may impact both positive and bad results. Some
individuals can be swayed by the charm and emotional manipulation rather than reasoning,

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which is why charismatic leadership requires constant supervision. Aside from that,
charisma's addictive characteristics and inclination to create collective narcissism pose
significant risks to the company. Moreover, charismatic leadership makes leaders appear
more capable than they really are, trapping followers and the organisation in a charisma trap.
There are both positive and negative things that may come from a double-edged sword. A
good example might be: My new car gets me to work every day, but it costs a lot of money
for petrol and insurance. A charismatic leader has the capacity to portray their beliefs and
objectives via the use of highly tuned behaviour (Vergauwe, et al., 2018).

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References

Aggarwal, J. and Krishnan, V.R., 2013. Impact of transformational leadership on follower’s

self-efficacy: Moderating role of follower’s impression management. Management and
Labour Studies, 38(4), pp.297-313.

Avolio, B.J. and Yammarino, F.J., 2013. Introduction to, and overview of, transformational
and charismatic leadership. Transformational and charismatic leadership: The road ahead, 5.

Crawford, J.A., Dawkins, S., Martin, A. and Lewis, G., 2020. Putting the leader back into
authentic leadership: Reconceptualising and rethinking leaders. Australian Journal of
Management, 45(1), pp.114-133.

Eisenbeiß, S.A. and Boerner, S., 2013. A double‐edged sword: Transformational leadership
and individual creativity. British Journal of Management, 24(1), pp.54-68.

Grabo, A., Spisak, B.R. and van Vugt, M., 2017. Charisma as signal: An evolutionary
perspective on charismatic leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 28(4), pp.473-485.

Vergauwe, J., Wille, B., Hofmans, J., Kaiser, R.B. and De Fruyt, F., 2018. The double-edged
sword of leader charisma: Understanding the curvilinear relationship between charismatic
personality and leader effectiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114(1),
p.110.