This document discusses charismatic leadership. It defines charismatic leadership as the ability to influence followers based on a supernatural gift and attractive powers. The document traces the history of charismatic leadership theories from Weber in the 1920s to more recent models. It examines Conger's four-stage model of charismatic leadership and discusses strengths, weaknesses, examples, and recommendations for effective charismatic leadership.

1. Charismatic Leadership
Sarah Almquist, RN, BSN, CAPA
The University ofTexas at Arlington College of Nursing
In partial fulfillment of the requirements of
N5311 Nursing Management in the Health Care Environment
SharonJudkins, RN, PhD, NEA-BC
July, 28, 2013

2. Leadership Defined:
 Gibson (2012)
 McLaurin& Al Amri (2008)
 The Handbook of Leadership (1990)

3. Charisma
 From the Greek word χάρισμα = gift
(Gibson et al., 2012)
 Charismatic leadership defined:
 “The ability to influence followers based
on a supernatural gift and attractive
powers. Followers enjoy being with the
charismatic leader because they feel
inspired, correct and important”
(Gibson et al., 2012, p. 351).

4. History
 1920 – Weber
 Initial development
 1977 – House
 Five key behavioral traits
 1992 – Robbins
 Four key personality traits
 (McLaurin&Bushanain, 2008)

5. Conger’s Model of
Charismatic Leadership
Stage 4: Serve
Stage 3: Develop
Stage 2: Communicate
Stage 1: Assess and Formulate
(Gibson et al., 2012)

6. Charismatic Leadership
 Lack of theoretical and research work
 Concept is ambiguous and abstract
(Gibson et al., 2012)
 Sometimes based on trait theory (Takala
et al., 2012)
 Identifies specific physical, mental and
personality traits associated with successful
leadership (Gibson et al., 2012)

7. Strengths
 Charismatic leaders:
 Inspire confidence, commitment and
enthusiasm
 Develop and articulate clear visions
 Can be extremely effective and often receive
high levels of obedience
(McLaurin&Bushanain, 2008)
 Can profoundly impact organizations and
even entire societies (Lapierre et al., 2012)

8. Weaknesses
 Difficult to find charismatic leaders
 Could become exploitative of followers
 May value personal gain over organizational
success
 Opinions are often unchallenged
 Narcissism
 Lack of Accountability
 (Lapierre et al., 2012)

9. Examples
 John F. Kennedy
 Adolf Hitler
 Walt Disney
 Jim Jones
 BarackObama
 Martin Luther King, Jr.

10. Personal Perspective
 Successful charismatic leadership
requires high ethical standards
 Lack of employee involvement
 Effect of modern media (Takala et al.,
2012)

11. Usefulness in Modern Management
 Organizational distress or transition
 Inspiration
 Motivation
 Rhetorical skills
 Spoken and written
 Martin Luther King, Jr.
 (“Charismatic leadership (Weber)”, 2013)

12. Recommendations for Use
 Inspiration and motivation
 Conger’s four-stage model
 Well-suited for organizational transition
 Promotes positive change
 Assist with vision formation and articulation
 Ensure trusted advisors and accountability
 (Gibson et al., 2012)

13. Questions??

14. References
 Charismatic leadership (Weber). (2013). Retrieved July 28, 2013, from
http://www.12manage.com/methods_weber_charismatic_leadership.html
 Gibson, J. L., Ivancevich, J. M., Donnelly, Jr, J. H., &Konopaske, R. (2012).
Organizations: Behavior, structure, processes (14th ed.). NewYork, NY: McGraw-Hill.
 Lapierre, L. M., Bremner, N. L., & McMullan, A. D. (2012). Strength in Numbers
How Employees' Acts of Followership Can InfluenceTheir Manager's Charismatic
Leadership Behavior. Zeitschrift Fur Psychologie, 220(4), 251-261.
 McLaurin, J., & Al Amri, M. (2008). Developing an understanding of charismatic
and transformational leadership. Allied Academies InternationalConference:
ProceedingsOfThe AcademyOf OrganizationalCulture, Communications & Conflict
(AOCCC), 13(2), 15-19.
 Takala,T.,Tanttu, S., Lämsä, A., &Virtanen, A. (2013). Discourses of Charisma:
Barack Obama's First 6 Months as the President of the USA. JournalOf Business
Ethics, 115(1), 149-166. doi:10.1007/s10551-012-1389-0