Charismatic Leadership

Charismatic Leadership

Charisma is a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men. Charismatic Leader gathers followers, through dint of personality and charm. Understand the meaning and concept of Charismatic Leadership and the qualities of a charismatic leader. Gain an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of using charismatic leadership. Finally, explore the difference between charismatic and transformational leadership.

What is the definition of Charismatic Leadership?

“Charisma is a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men, and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically, exceptional powers or qualities."  “Charismatic Leadership is "resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him".

– Max Weber

 Qualities of a Charismatic Leader:

 The Charismatic Leader gathers followers, through dint of personality and charm, rather than any form of external power or authority. Some prominent qualities of a charismatic leader are as follows:

  • Vision.
  • Speech.
  • High Principles.
  • Emotional Sensitivity.
  • Personality.
  • Charisma.

Every leadership style has its advantages and disadvantages when compared to other leadership styles. Let’s understand the advantages and disadvantages of charismatic leadership.

Advantages Of Charismatic Leadership:

  • Ability to affect change.
  • Energetic and driving leader.
  • Sensitivity to people's emotions.
  • Supportive environment.
  • Vision and Articulation.

 Disadvantages of Charismatic Leadership:

  • Over-Reliance on Leader.
  • Lack of Clarity.
  • Failure of Vision.
  • Misarticulating Goals.
  • Poor Management.
  • Autonomy.
  • Broken Trust.

Now let us compare the charismatic leadership style, with the transformational leadership style. 

Charismatic Vs. Transformational Leader:

 A charismatic leader influences the followers with the dint of his personality and charm whereas a Transformational Leader inspires change, through his vision & passion to get things done.

Charismatic Leader is the “head of the show” whereas Transformational Leader is open to followers’ input and participation.

In the case of charismatic leadership, Vision fulfillment happens by stimulating followers to the leader’s vision and in contrast, under transformational leadership, Vision fulfillment is inclusive of both follower and leader's vision.

Charismatic leaders are most likely to emerge in crisis situations whereas it has been generally observed that transformational leaders, can emerge at different levels of the organization. From a style standpoint, charismatic leadership behavior is aimed at leader driven goals and, the focus is to promote feelings of obedience and dependency in followers. In the case of transformational leadership, the behavior is aimed at encouraging teamwork and commitment to the shared goals.



Related Links

Creation Date Saturday, 02 June 2012 Hits 32320

You May Also Like

  • Qualities of Leadership

    Qualities of Leadership

    The ten most important qualities that define a good leader are self-awareness, interpersonal and communication skills, ethical values, organizational consciousness, self-confidence, adaptability and flexibility, imagination and creativity, focus & result-orientation, continuous self-development and accountability and ownership for his actions. These ten qualities of leadership every good leader should possess to a certain extent and must continually strive to develop them.

  • Democratic Leadership

    Democratic Leadership

    Participative leadership is one of the most effective styles and creates higher productivity, better contributions from group members, and increased group morale.  The democratic leadership style consists of the leader sharing the decision-making abilities with group members by promoting the interests of the group members. Learn more about this leadership style and situations when it is effective.

  • Bad Leadership Style

    Bad Leadership Style

    A good leadership style is something that every effective leader must have in order to succeed, but identifying what that entails or does not entails might be difficult to understand. Most of the research on leadership focuses on the exemplary, best practices, and positive attributes of effective and successful leaders. This article talks about a new approach to learn leadership using lessons from bad leadership. That is the lessons to be learned by examining leaders who have not effectively exercised their power, authority, or influence.

  • Laissez-Faire Leadership

    Laissez-Faire Leadership

    Laissez-faire is a style of leadership that affords the group members a great deal of independence. Tasks are delegated to the group members and they are responsible to see the project through to fruition. Research has shown that this style of leadership leads to the lowest levels of productivity. This article explains this style and covers the implications of having a hands-off approach and the situations where this style could be effective.

  • Collaborative Leadership

    Collaborative Leadership

    Collaborative leadership is all about collaborative problem-solving and decision-making or can also be defined as the leadership of a collaborative effort. . The term started to appear in the mid-1990s in response to the formation of long term public-private partnerships to rebuild public infrastructure. Learn how you can use principles of collaborative leadership to enhance your leadership skills for being an effective leader.

  • Lean Leadership Approach

    Lean Leadership Approach

    We define Lean as the systematic elimination of waste through a continual effort to decrease inefficiency; the lean leader strives to create a more efficient organization. Lean leadership is a philosophy. It is a consistent way of thinking and being in your role as a leader. The focus of this approach is on raising new leaders and help their team embrace a culture of continuous improvement. Learn what we mean by lean leadership style and its principles.

  • Bureaucratic Leadership Style

    Bureaucratic Leadership Style

    Bureaucratic leadership relies on a clear chain of command and strict regulations. Bureaucratic leadership style is a very decent style for work involving serious safety risks, such as handling toxic substances, moving large objects. The focus is on compliance with rules and laid down procedures to make sure that the group is doing their job correctly and safely. Learn some advantages and disadvantages of this style and situations in which this style could prove to be effective.

  • Cross-Cultural Leadership

    Cross-Cultural Leadership

    Understanding of how individuals of different cultures interact with each other is very important. Not all individuals can adapt to the leadership styles expected in a different culture whether that culture is organizational or national. In a fast-paced business environment, developing a richer understanding and sensitivity to other cultures is a skill that leaders must possess. Learn to be effective in a cross-cultural setting.

  • Adaptive Leadership Style

    Adaptive Leadership Style

    Adaptive leadership is a style of leadership that emphasizes the importance of each and every person and role within the company. Adaptive leadership views the organization as an ever-changing, living organization, where employees can learn, adapt, and grow. Adaptive leaders mobilize people towards a common goal and also have the courage to experiment with new ideas and approaches. Adaptive leadership is the practice of mobilizing groups of people to tackle tough challenges and thrive. Learn how to adopt this style and how to become an adaptive leader!

  • Level Five Leadership

    Level Five Leadership

    “Level 5 Leadership”, this term was coined by Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great” and it is all about achieving "Greatness" as a leader. This article will explain what we mean by Level 5 Leadership and what the characteristics of a Level 5 leader are. What it takes to achieve greatness as a leader, and what are the steps and strategies that one can use to move up to this top level of leadership.

Explore Our Free Training Articles or
Sign Up to Start With Our eLearning Courses

Subscribe to Our Newsletter


© 2023 TechnoFunc, All Rights Reserved