Charisma’s Impact on Leadership Few people will have the opportunity in their lifetimes to rise up and become a leader. Even less will actually become successful leaders. There are many variables when determining how some leaders were able to lead and drive others to follow their commands. What makes certain people more trustworthy? Why can some people inspire you in ways others can’t? While there are many things that can potentially alter how successful a leader can be, I believe it all boils down to charisma. Charisma is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as, “compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others”. Everyone has charisma, but some are naturally more charismatic than others. Back in the 1960’s John …show more content…
The first is Aung San Suu Kyi. While we haven’t seen the final results of her rebellion in Burma, it is clear that she knows how to gain followers. Aung San Suu Kyi has an interesting backstory. Many people knew her because of her father, who was eventually assassinated. While it’s not exactly clear yet how impactful her reign will be, it is clear that she represents something larger. Hannah Beech, a Times journalist who specialises in Asia said, “Still, the world is counting on Suu Kyi to use her moral suasion to fight prejudice, no matter the political consequences” (Beech 39). Aung San Suu Kyi represents all the injustice that’s going on in Burma. People are inspired by her relentless fight for human rights and democracy. Her charisma of never backing down when being threatened inspires many and provides hope for a better future. While she was loved for her determination and fight against the government, there were other non-related reasons for her liking and success. Hannah Beech also said, “She’s rich, anyway.” She’s not, really. Suu Kyi lives in villas but hardly surrounds herself with the gilded excess of Burma’s military elite and their cronies. The choices she faces are difficult” (Beech 39). Aung San Suu Kyi’s lifestyle is irrelevant when looking at her rebellion. However, it is important when looking at why so many people look up to her and trust her. Even though she has wealth she chooses to live a simple, modest lifestyle and that makes her more relatable to her audience and followers. People are more likely to trust someone when they can relate, and feel personally connected to them. While her time is power isn’t over, and it’s not quite clear if her rebellion has been successful, it is clear that she has succeeded in proving a hope, and a passion for equal human rights, and democracy that will carry on even when time in power is
Injustice has bred leaders who believe people should be able to protest against the unjust laws with civil disobedience and rebellion. The leader who is most inspiring is Malala, she is a very young woman who, although shot and injured, still stood up for what she believed in, still trying to set women equal to men in Afghanistan. The most admirable is Aung San Suu Kyi because she has been arrested multiple times but nonetheless continuously working for political freedom and adversity.
“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority”. The idea of the quote can be explained by Charismatic Leadership that founded by Max Weber in the 1920’s. Sociologist Max Weber defined charismatic leadership as individuals who possess “a gift of grace”. Charismatic leaders have strong visionary qualities and the ability to engage others in action. Furthermore, he also defines charismatic leaders are like hero or people with extraordinary qualities (12Manage, 2016). Weber (1947) stated that leaders with high charisma often be viewed as they have endowed with exceptional powers.
Leaders do not just appear out of thin air and automatically start making great things happen in the world. A leader must learn from prior leaders or role models that they are surrounded by that they look up to. Not everyone can be a leader, only some people have the correct characteristics it takes to lead others in the right direction. Those who do great things, for example volunteering at a homeless shelter, are not leaders. Many people mistake a “great person” as being a leader, which is completely incorrect (Kouzes and Posner, p. 3). While playing an active role in your community is a positive thing it does not make someone a leader of that community. All leaders have a group of people they have inspiration too and that is a good way of determining who your personal leaders are. My mother, brother, and grandfather are my leaders because I have always looked up to them and tried to mimic some of the great things that I have seen them do. My mother has always been an independent women with goals and an action plan to accomplish those set goals. Stephen, my elder brother, is outgoing and tends to have a leveled head when it comes to evaluating stressful situations. My grandfather is the most caring person I know and he is amazing at keeping situations under control in order to please everyone. These are all the qualities I want to combine into my own leadership style. I know I am not a efficient leader of these actions yet, but I plan on growing into this as I more on into my career, fulfill my set goals, and adjust to the curve-balls that life throws at me.
In order for a leader to be a leader, he/she must begin with the assumption that you are the one who matters most. As a leader you have to possess that level of confidence in yourself that you are capable of leading yourself “before you can lead others”. And when you develop this belief then you are better able to affirmatively influence “on others”. A leader needs to “believe” in himself and have the confidence that whatever you say will excite and what you do can motivate others. You must be optimistic about what you do, to have some relevance to being in existence.
Is based on perception and how people perceive a leader and how well the person is able to communicate and inspire others will greatly affect how successful they can become. For example, a principal in a school has to have a certain amount of charisma, being able to communicate to the staff, parents, and student to about the vision of school. Much like a politician, the principal has to exude confidence in their vision but also must open up to others so that can align themselves with their followers. The principal can reward their followers by mentoring, training, and sharing leadership roles so that their followers can grow and becomes administrators
Since we are all born, the best answer to this question is: leaders are born and then made. A good leader is always moving forward; he never repeats the same thing! They strives to seek new experiences and they are in a constant self improving mode, that means he takes in information from a multitude of sources, including but not limited to his own interpretation of life experiences, observations, journals, website, informal training from an excellent mentor as well as from more formal training that is given in an academic setting.
Perhaps the most important qualities of a leader are passion and motivation. Especially when leading a group for a particular cause, a leader must be personally attached to that cause. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., for example, is a legendary leader because he fought for a cause that directly affected him. had he not been pushing for a personal reason, his actions would not have been as passionate. This would have caused a lack in motivation, another essential leadership quality. A leader faces many roadblocks and opposition and thus, must be motivated to continue fighting and leading. A leader’s attitude and opinions are valued by the group and therefore, if a leader is motivated, the group will be, too. The continued actions and successes, no matter how small, which move the group closer to its goal also help its motivation and drive.
To be a leader you need to be able to inspire others, get people motivated, and set an example to other people. A leader needs to do all of these because if one of these aspects fails people don’t look at the leader...
Throughout history, there have been leaders who are considered as admirable due to positive influences over other individuals. For example, in my opinion, Abraham Lincoln was able to influence the masses of people because he chose to think and behave differently from other leaders before him. When a person is considered as a leader, there are several responsibilities and qualities that will attract others to follow after the teachings that are demonstrated. Leadership can be described as the process for “guiding individuals, groups, and entire organizations in establishing goals and sustaining action to support goals (Shockley-Zalabak, 2015, p. 220). Additionally, each leader will usually have a distinctive
As a growing debate, the question at hand is whether great leaders are born with specific leadership traits, or if one can be taught certain traits over time. According to (Wikipedia.com) the approach of listing leadership qualities, often termed "trait theory of leadership", assumes certain traits or characteristics will tend to lead to effective leadership. I believe that leadership traits such as honest, competent, initiative, inspiring, hardworking, intelligent, and the ability to lead the masses, are some of the leadership traits one should possess. Within this paper, I will examine the overall concept of leadership traits, while observing the traits that were, or can be associated with successful leaders.
Traits of a good leader are trustworthiness, respectfulness, honesty, and be stern. When you have leaders that take their role seriously, you can form a backbone to an organization that cannot be broken. You have born leaders and you have trained leaders. Martin Luther King was a natural born leader for the Civil Rights movement. King saw there was something that needed to be changed and he took the steps to change the world.
I decided gratitude would be my highest terminal value. If I can strive to be grateful for all that I have and all that I am, I believe this would lead to helping me achieve all other terminal values. Providing service for other living things is something that I feel is important for the survival of our external world, which is why it is ranked second. My third value is wisdom. In today’s world, there are so many problems that I will not be able to resolve or fix, that I have to have the wisdom to be able to know what I can and can not do, and know that this is okay. I also believe it is of great value to strive for wisdom when I interact with people. Rather than reacting with feelings and passion, responding with wisdom could achieve a lot more from others, and ultimately allow me to achieve my goals. I did not rank happiness any higher because although I believe it to be of vital importance to our lives, I believe that if you do not strive for other key values, then striving for happiness has the potential to become a selfish or destructive act.
To reflect back on my original question; although the degree of charisma may continue to be on the radar for the selection and evaluation of leaders, in many ways this trait can add to the effectiveness of leaders and I believe will continue to a valued trait.
Throughout my life I have encountered the chance to experience position of being a leader. Being part of groups in university for class presentations, being the organizing secretary of my campus fellowship, being a youth leader in my church and the church admin, also being part of a family. Leaders are charismatic, inspirational and trust worthy. I have gained some important qualities of being a good leader through these experiences. Most of the valuable leadership’s characteristics that I obtained and strengthened are: learn to become a better leader every day, how to be a team player, to be a better listener, to be an effective communicator, to have more patience, not afraid of constructive criticism, to be outspoken, and to be a problem solver. Even though I have gained a lot, I still have more things to learn to become a better leader such as being more assertive, being more disciplined, becoming a better public speaker, and learn how to be realistic and not too optimistic. You are a leader if someone else choses to follow you.
“The important word there is inspire. The key difference between managers and leaders is that managers tell people what to do, while leaders inspire them to do it. Inspiration comes from three things: clarity of one’s vision, courage of their conviction and the ability to effectively communicate both of those things”