Chapter 7: Charismatic and Transformational Leadership Flashcards
Other politicians acknowledged as charismatic include:
wartime British Prime Minister Winston Churchill; American civil rights leader Martin Luther King; South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela; US President Barack Obama; First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon; and New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern
Charismatic effect
The ability to use language to stir emotion, to persuade and to mobilize people
Charismatic and transformative leadership are two theories that share a common theme in the leadership discourse:
they view leaders as individuals who inspire others through language to change. Charisma is that ‘something’ that differentiates Nelson Mandela from Jacob Zuma
Aristotle posited that persuasion is achieved using rhetorical means,
which include the speaker’s personal character (ethos), stirring the hearers’ emotion (pathos) and using reasoned argument (logos)
Aristotelian triad
Ethos, pathos, and logos
Charisma only emerges under certain situations
Most notably when an audience is available
You are not charismatic all the time!
This suggests that charisma is not simply a possession but a relationship,
Not something individuals ‘have’ but something that others perceive
The implication of these questions is that charisma, like beauty,
lies in the eye of the beholder.
Martin Luther King nor Barack Obama were born charismatic, though, at a later stage of their lives, exceptional qualities were subsequently ‘recognized’ by their followers
Charisma from this perspective appears not to be a psychological phenomenon but is a social construct (Grint, 2000) and whether charismatics are effective leaders depends, to some extent, on the context.
‘dark side’ of charisma
Charisma can be exploited for evil purposes
Example: Hitler
According to Weber, domination can be _______ and _______ (coercive)
legitimate
illegitimate
Weber (1921/1968) was primarily interested in legitimate forms of domination or power, or what he called ‘legitimate authority’
that allocates the right to leaders to command and the duty of subordinates to obey
The starting point for his theory is his classification of legitimate authority into three types:
1) Traditional authority
2) Rational-legal authority
3) Charismatic authority
1) Traditional authority
in which compliance is due to the sacred nature of the office. Historically, this was the most important form of domination but it has declined, along with monarchies.
2) Rational-legal authority
in which compliance is derived from the rationality of the authority. For example, people generally obey traffic laws because they appear to make sense, and not because police officers are charismatic or because they have some inherited authority.
3) Charismatic authority
in which obedience is attributed fundamentally to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual.
Weber definition of Charisma
A certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he [sic] is considered extraordinary and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or, at least, specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a ‘leader’
Weber provided four related elements of charisma:
(1) an individual of exceptional powers or qualities;
(2) a social crisis;
(3) a radical solution to the crisis offered by the individual;
(4) devoted followers.
‘pure’ or ‘strong’ charisma
Weber believed that charisma could not be analyzed along a continuum; people were charismatic or they were not
Weber is emphatic that charismatic power emerges as a quality conferred on a ‘supernatural’ leader only during periods of
‘extraordinary’ social crisis
At such ‘moments of distress’, the charismatic leader ‘seizes the task for which he [sic] is destined and demands that others obey and follow him by virtue of his mission