Unit 3

Charismatic and Transformational Leadership

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning
 Learning Objectives
• Describe many of the traits and behaviors of charismatic
leaders.
• Explain the visionary component of charismatic
leadership.
• Explain the communication style of charismatic leaders.
• Have an action plan for developing your charisma.
• Explain the nature of transformational leadership.
• Identify several of the impacts of charismatic and
transformational leadership on performance and behavior.
• Describe the concerns about charismatic leadership from
the scientific and moral standpoint.
Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,
practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 2
 The Meanings of Charisma
• Variety of definitions:
• Greek word meaning “divinely inspired gift”
• Special quality of leaders whose purposes, powers,
and extraordinary determination differentiate them
from others
• Having a charming and colorful personality
• The various definitions above have a unifying theme:
• Charisma is a positive and compelling quality that
makes many others want to be led by the person who
has it.
Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,
practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 3
 Charisma Relationship
• Charismatic leadership involves the ATTRIBUTIONS made
by group members about the characteristics of leaders
and the results they achieve.
• When group members PERCEIVE a leader to have a
certain characteristic, the leader will more likely be
perceived as charismatic.
• Charismatic leaders use impression management to
cultivate their relationships with group members.
• Influence people beyond their immediate subordinates.
• Become symbols of their organizations e.g. Bill Gates
Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,
practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 4
 Effects of Charisma
• The impact of charisma is mostly found in the positive affect the
charismatic leader triggers in a group.
• With a charismatic leader, group members:
• Are happier
• Have increased productivity and reduced stress due to positive
mood
• Trust the leader’s beliefs
• Have affection for the leader
• Identify with and attempt to emulate the leader
• Have emotional involvement in the mission
• Have heightened goals
• Feel they will be able to accomplish or contribute to the
accomplishment of the mission
Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,
practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 5
 Types of Charismatic Leaders
• Socialized Charismatics
• Restrain the use of power in the interest of others.
• Their followers have a clear sense of self and values.
• Personalized Charismatics
• Use power to serve their own interests.
• Their followers tend to be obedient, submissive, and
dependent.
• Celebrity Charismatics
• Overlap their public celebrity with socialized and
personalized traits.

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 6
 Characteristics of Charismatic Leaders
• Visionary
• Masterful communication skills
• Ability to inspire trust
• Ability to make group members feel capable
• Tactful in social situations
• Energy and action orientation
• Emotional expressiveness and warmth
• Romanticize risk
• Unconventional strategies
• Self-promoting personality – even narcissistic
• Test employees
• Dramatic and unique
Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,
practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 7
 Vision Component of
Charismatic Leadership
• VISION – The ability to imagine different and better
future conditions and ways to achieve them.
• Charismatic leaders inspire others with their visions,
which are often lofty, long-term goals.
• Being a visionary is far from an ordinary task, and recent
research in neuroscience suggests that visionary leaders
use their brain differently from others.
• Leaders implement their vision by using vision statements
and involving a wide range of employees in the process.
• Vision versus Mission
Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,
practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 8
 Vision Component of
Charismatic Leadership (cont’d)
• Vision and mission statements are the starting point of
the strategic management.

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 9
 Gathering Information for the Vision
There are many sources from which information may be
gathered to create a vision:
• Your own intuition about developments in your field,
the markets you serve, and the preferences of your
constituents.
• The work of futurists.
• Group discussion of what it would take to please the
people your group serves.
• Annual reports and management books that describe
the vision statements being formulated by others.
(Continued)
Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,
practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 10
 Gathering Information for the Vision (cont’d)
• Speaking to group members, individually and
collectively, to learn of their hopes and dreams for the
future.
• For an organizational unit, studying the entire
organization’s vision and developing one that is
compatible.

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 11
 The Vision Component of Charismatic
Leadership
A vision statement is likely to be more inspirational when it
combines three elements:
1. A reason for being beyond making money
2. Timeless, unchanging core values
3. Ambitious but achievable goals

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 12
 Communication Style of Charismatic Leaders
• Charismatic leaders utilize a colorful, imaginative, open,
and expressive communication style.
• Leadership by Inspiration
• Articulating a highly emotional message
• Using analogies and metaphors
• Gearing language to different audiences
• Leadership by Storytelling
• Inspiring and instructing by telling fascinating stories
• Extensive Use of Social Networking
• Face-to-face networks
• Social networking sites
Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,
practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 13
 The Development of Charisma
• Create visions for others
• Be enthusiastic, optimistic, and energetic
• Be sensibly persistent; almost-never-accept-no attitude
• Remember people’s names
• Develop synchrony with others
• Develop a personal brand, including making an impressive
appearance
• Be candid
• Display an “in-your-face” attitude (tough and aggressive)

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 14
 Transformational Leadership
• Focuses on what the leader accomplishes, yet it still pays
attention to the leader’s personal characteristics and
his/her relationship with group members.
• Helps bring about major, positive changes by moving
group members beyond their self-interests and towards
the good of the group, organization, or society.
• Essence is in developing and transforming people.
• In contrast, TRANSACTIONAL leadership is focused on
routine transactions and rewarding group members for
meeting standards.

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 15
 Raising People’s Awareness about Rewards
• The transformational leader makes group members
aware of the importance and values of certain rewards
and how to achieve them.
• He points to the pride workers would experience should
the firm excel.
• The transformational leader also points to financial
rewards accompanying such success.

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 16
 Helping People Look Beyond Self-Interest
• The transformational leader helps group members look at
the “big picture” for the good of the team and the
organization.
• Bit by bit group members are made aware that their
actions contribute to a broader purpose than satisfying
their own interests.

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 17
 Helping People Search for Self-Fulfillment
• The transformational leader helps people go beyond a
focus on minor satisfactions to a quest for self-fulfillment.
• Philosopher Alan Gewirth defined self-fulfillment as
“carrying to fruition one's deepest desires or one’s
worthiest capacities.”*

*Source: Alan Gewirth (2009). Self-Fulfillment. Princeton University Press. pp. 3-5

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 18
 Helping People Understand the Need for Change
• The transformational leader must help group members
understand the need for change, both emotionally and
intellectually.
• Change involves dislocation and discomfort.

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 19
 Helping People Understand the Need for Change
• An effective transformational leader recognizes the
emotional component to resisting change and deals
openly with it.
• Ways of dealing with the emotions and attitudes
surrounding change include:
• Conducting a one-on-one discussion about how the change
might adversely affect the group member.
• Holding group discussions about the need for change in a
competitive changing environment.
• Conducting a group discussion about the advantages and
disadvantages of the change.
• Presenting financial information about the need for change.
Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,
practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 20
 Investing Managers with a Sense of Urgency
• To create the transformation, the leader assembles a
critical mass of managers and other workers and involves
them in a discussion about the urgency of change.
• For example, he might say, “If we don’t change now, there
may be no future for our organization (or department).”

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 21
 Committing to Greatness
• The ultimate transformational act would be to get group
members excited about the prospects of doing great work
and belonging to a great organization.

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 22
 How Transformations Take Place

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 23
 Attributes of Transformational Leaders
• Are charismatic
• Agreeable, extroverted, optimistic, and open
• Score high on emotional intelligence
• Create a vision
• Encourage the personal development of others
• Provide supportive leadership
• Practice empowerment
• Think innovatively
• Lead by example
• Utilize moral reasoning

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 24
 Impact of Transformational Leadership
• Transformational leadership, at its best, can arouse
followers to a higher level of thinking.
• It can appeal to the ideals and values of constituents, in
turn enhancing commitment to a vision.
• Group members become more responsible because they
are inspired.
• Workers who report to transformational leaders have a
more positive mood.

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 25
 Concerns About
Charismatic Leadership
• Charismatic leadership has been challenged from two major
standpoints:
• Validity of the Concept
• Some doubt charisma can truly be defined or measured
• Leadership polarity indicates leaders are often either
revered or vastly unpopular
• May not even be necessary for leadership effectiveness
• Misdeeds of Charismatic Leaders
• Charismatic leadership can be exercised for evil
purposes (the dark side)
• Some charismatic leaders are unethical and lead their
organizations toward illegal and immoral ends
Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,
practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 26
 Summary
• Charisma is a special quality of some leaders that differentiates
them from others.
• Charismatic leaders often contribute to group members’
attributions of their charismatic qualities through impression
management.
• Much of the impact of charisma is based on the positive effect
the charismatic leader triggers among the group members.
• There are three types of charismatic leaders: socialized,
personalized, and celebrity.
• Charismatic and transformational leaders are able to articulate
a vision in a way that inspires others.
• There may be a dark side to charismatic leadership.

Source: DuBrin, Andrew J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings,

practice, and skills. Boston: USA: Cengage Learning 27
Session Ends
 Disclaimer
The information provided in this module is derived from Cengage
Learning, Boston, USA, and other sources. All information is provided in
good faith for educational purposes only. Iqra University claims no
ownership of this information, and will not be liable for any claims
arising thereof, now or in the future.