Running head: CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP

Reflective Paper: Charismatic Leadership

E. Lloyd Mitchell III
MGT 6503
October 4, 2012
Sherry L. Read
Wilmington University

Reflective Paper: Charismatic Leadership

Article reviewed: Reading 31; Toward a Behavioral Theory of Charismatic Leadership in

Organizational Settings by Jay A. Conger and Rabindra N. Kanungo

Throughout human history there have been leaders, and the rise of these leaders can be
attributed to various reasons, ranging from circumstance to fanatical or religious appointment. A
characteristic often associated with leaders is charisma, which is defined by the dictionary as a
spiritual power or personal quality that gives an individual influence or authority over large
numbers of people ("Charisma," 2012). This inspirational power has many dimensions, some
of which are directly linked to the leader, but many of which involve the interaction between the
leader and their followers.
The article written by Conger and Kanungo presented the topic of Charisma from their
perspective as it applies to leadership. They first sought to define what charisma is and
expanded their work to cover some of the hypothesis around the role charisma plays in
leadership. Finally they concluded their paper with a novel approach for examining charismas
relationship to leadership in a quantifiable and testable way.
When presented with the article my first thoughts about charismatic leadership brought
leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy to mind. These leaders were
individuals who demonstrated passion around social issues and rose to prominence during some
of the most turbulent times in America. I had not thought about what charisma really meant. My
concept of a charismatic person was a hard worker and an articulate or dynamic speaker. Prior
to reading the article, I thought charisma was entirely a personality trait, one that gave a leader a
dynamic outspoken presence that attracted people to follow. However, the authors of the article,
Conger and Kanungo define charisma from the followers perspective by quoting a study by

Reflective Paper: Charismatic Leadership

Wilner, where it is stated; Followers perceive the charismatic leader as someone who possesses
superhuman qualities and accept unconditionally the leaders mission and directives for action
(as cited in Conger & Kanungo, 1987) I found this definition interesting because it focuses on
the perception of the follower rather than some real demonstrable quality in the leader Conger &
Kanungo , 1987) . They go on to discuss the idea that, it is not what the leader is but what
people see the leader as that creates the charismatic relationship (Conger & Kanungo, 1987).
Studies on Inference based perception seem to support aspects of this idea, where the mere fact
that a person is in a leadership position during some positive event gains them credit for the
achievement even if they had little or nothing to do with it (Yan and Hunt, 2005). According to
Conger and Kanungo, charismatic leadership relationships involve a few key elements: vision,
trust, ability to articulate and perceived risk taking.
Charismatic Leaders often have a radical vision of the future where the status quo they
aspire to is vastly different from the present circumstance (Conger & Kanungo, 1987). In
thinking about Martin Luther King Jr. and President Kennedy, it seems that both men held
visions for America that must have seemed radical to mainstream society at the time. After their
review of leadership literature, Conger and Kanungo state that leaders become charismatic once
they have succeeded in changing followers attitudes and get them to accept their vision (Conger
& Kanungo, 1987). I found this idea very compelling but it seemed like there was a piece
missing. I felt like there needed to be an element of this theory that investigated the role that the
success of a vision had on charismatic leadership. It did not make sense that just from logical
debate alone that a person could become a charismatic leader, but rather successful action and
vision would be required.

Reflective Paper: Charismatic Leadership

Two of the attributes of charismatic leadership that Conger and Kanungo also explored
were trust and risk taking. They felt that it was important for a leader to gain trust by showing
more concern for the followers needs rather than their own self-interest (Conger & Kanungo,
1987). They also found that by taking sometimes extreme risks, leaders were often deemed more
trustworthy by their followers. In support of this finding, there were several examples in the
reading where CEOs of companies reduced their annual salary to $1 or took great risks with their
careers by confronting upper management. There was a study by Kurt T. Dirks in 2000 that
supports Conger and Kanungos findings on trust and leadership. Dirks studied coaches of
sporting teams and used the coaches win-loss record as a variable in the study. Dirks found that
a leaders past performance had a large impact on the level of trust that followers would place in
that leader in the future (Pierce, J.L. and Newstrom, J.W. (Ed.). (2011)). The underlying
assumption here, although explicitly expressed is that, the performance or outcome is one that is
beneficial to the followers.
Conger and Kanungo also investigated the role articulation plays in charismatic
leadership and found it was important because, leaders need to be able to convey their idealized
vision to followers in a way that is meaningful to them. Charismatic leaders were found to have
the ability to verbally express their vision as it related to the status quo, to also convey their
personal conviction and how the vision would be realized (Conger & Kanungo, 1987). I agree
with the articles authors that ability to articulate ideas is an important attribute for a successful
leader to have. King and Kennedy certainly were articulate and as history shows, were able to
convey a strong message that resonated with millions of followers.

Reflective Paper: Charismatic Leadership

The corporate world has had its share of charismatic leaders; from Henry Ford to Steve
Jobs, leaders like these have created cult-like followings both inside and outside of their
organizations. They created brand recognition that became household names. They became
icons in their respective industries, becoming synonymous with their products. Prior to reading
this article, I was under the impression that the essence of charismatic leadership was the ability
to speak well and generate passion in ones listeners. I have learned that these attributes are
important but charismatic leadership is much more than just this. The charismatic leader gathers
a following by inspiring people through both word and deed. It is the power of the vision that
they stand for and the changes that it will bring in the minds and hearts of their followers that
makes their leadership style so powerful. I have seen instances in the corporate world where
brilliant leaders have failed because they were unable to translate their vision that they have in
terms that motivates and inspires those around them. These leaders might have felt very strongly
about the changes that they felt needed to be made but lacked the ability to articulate these
feelings in a way that gained them followership and helped in achieving the vision.
In summary, it would stand to reason that the best leaders have a combination of traits
that allow them to be charismatic, to articulate and to earn the trust of their followers but also
have the skill to know when to use these attributes to their best advantage. There are examples
throughout history like Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy who used their charisma to
transform a nation in a positive way, and conversely there are examples like Benito Mussolini
and Adolph Hitler who used these same attributes to gather power for themselves and rob a
nation and its people of its identity.

Reflective Paper: Charismatic Leadership

References
Charisma. (2012). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/charisma

Conger, J.A and Kanungo, R.N. (1987) Toward a Behavioral Theory of Charismatic Leadership
in Organization Settings. In Pierce, J.L. and Newstrom, J.W. (Ed.). (2011). Leadership
Development and Change Management (pp. 379-386). USA: McGraw-Hill Custom
Publication for Instructors of MGT-6503, Wilmington University

Yan, J and Hunt, J. (2005). A Cross Cultural Perspective on Percieved Leadership Effectiveness.
In Pierce, J.L. and Newstrom, J.W. (Ed.). (2011). Leadership Development and Change
Management (pp. 263-275). USA: McGraw-Hill Custom Publication for Instructors of
MGT-6503, Wilmington University

Pierce, J.L. and Newstrom, J.W. (Ed.). (2011). Leadership Development and Change
Management. USA: McGraw-Hill Custom Publication for Instructors of MGT-6503,
Wilmington University