McLaurin & Al Amri (2008) de 1bgrscribe a charismatic leader as someone who is self-confident, has a clear vision, takes risks, and acts as an agent of change. Well known charismatic leaders include Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. The argument could be made that they were transformational leaders, as the dividing line between the two styles seems blurred. Charismatic leaders emerge when there is great turmoil and emotional pain. The people need a leader and are willing to follow someone who is inspirational.
The Charismatic Leader at Foothills WTP
I work at Foothills Water Treatment Plant, which is part of Denver Water. It is the largest treatment plant in the state and over one million people each day rely on our water. It is a high stress, high responsibility job in the best of times.
Our manager is difficult to work with. He is retired from the military and has a very authoritarian-compliance style. Denver Water as a whole is working toward empowering employees and allowing them more freedom in their jobs. He will try to comply with the wishes and allow us more autonomy. But as soon as someone makes a mistake, he gives them a formal, written reprimand, there may be disciplinary action, and he restricts everyone’s actions. Employees are afraid to make a decision or take action without his explicit approval, even when he says we should be acting independently. Morale is low and fear is the overriding motivator for most people.
A charismatic leader could easily turn things around. If we had a leader who inspired us to be the best we can personally and to be the best water treatment plant in the state, people would follow him or her readily and step up to the challenges presented. Fea...
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... could make the difference between a satisfactory and an outstanding outcome.
Conclusion
There are many leadership styles available for use. The best type of leadership depends upon the situation and all of the people involved. No one is able to use every style with equal proficiency. But if you know the options, you can choose a style that will suit both you and the situation.
References
McLaurin, J. & Al Amri, M. (2008). Developing an understanding of charismatic and transformational leadership. Allied Academies International Conference: Proceedings of the Academy of Organizational Culture, Communication, and Conflict (AOCCC), 13(2), 15-19.
Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Quiros, E. (2013). Creating an environment for your team to strive. Strategic Finance, 95(10), 20-22.
Transformational leadership theory emphasizes on how a leader can acquire the ability to affect and motivate his followers to succeed beyond expectations. A transformational leader is one, whose vision for the future motivates and excites his followers. For this reason, a transformational leader is judged according to what he achieves as opposed to his character. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was the least charismatic leader of all the American presidents. However, his use of transformational leadership to develop his agenda and vision was unprecedented. Furthermore, a transformational leader is more likely to be effective in a chaotic environment. Carter was faced with a stagnant economy, double-digit inflation, and oil and gas shortages.
Idealized influence. Idealized influence includes leaders’ charisma, or their ability to generate strong emotions in followers, and is considered the most important of the four characteristics of transformational leaders (Avolio, Bass, & Jung, 1999). Charismatic leaders are confident in themselves and hold a strong conviction in their beliefs, evoking passion in their followers (Bass, 1985). They many times place the team’s needs before their own, and they guide the organizational culture into the change envisioned (Bass et al., 2003). Bass (1985) suggested that charismatic leadership strongly influences followers, thus positively influencing organizational performance. This ability to influence is due largely in part to the charisma exhibited by the leader (Bass & Avolio, 1994). Ehrhart and Klein’s (2001) review of literature concerning charismatic leadership found four behaviors repeatedly referred to as “charismatic”: (a) communicating high performance expectations, (b) exhibiting confidence in followers’ ability to reach goals, (c) taking calculated risks, and (d) articulating a value-based vision of the future (Kark & Van Dijk, 2007). Accumulated evidence points to transformational and charismatic leadership as influential modes of leadership that are associated with high levels of individual and organizational performance (Dvir, Eden, Avolio, & Shamir, 2002; Kark & Van Dijk, 2007; Lowe, Kroeck, & Sivasubramaniam, 1996).
Quirus, E. (2013). Creating an Environment for Your Team to Strive. Strategic Finance, 95(10), 20-22.
Avolio, B. J., & Yammarino, F. J. (Eds.). (2013). Transformational and Charismatic Leadership:: the Road Ahead. Emerald Group Publishing.
Leaders come forth depending on the kind of situation, in which they are need. This type of leadership is typically known as “situational leadership,” where the key concept is every situation is different, so each situation requires a specific, unique leader. For a person to be a great leader, one does not have to necessarily assume a “bossy” persona, which is stereotypically characterized with all leaders, but being a leader based on listening. Being this background leader is known to many as, “servant leadership.” Servant and situational leadership is how I can characterize my leadership style so far since I have joined the student leadership community at Hillwood High School.
“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.
Larson, C. and LaFasto, F. (1989), Teamwork: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong. Newberry Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Transformational leaders are for the most part lively, energetic, and enthusiastic (Hawkins, 2011). Not just are these leaders concerned and included all the while; they are likewise centered around helping each individual from the group to succeed too. The components of a transformational leader
Yukl, G. (1999). An evaluation of conceptual weaknesses in transformational and charismatic leadership theories. The Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 285-305.
There are a few different types of well known leadership styles, authoritarian, delegative, and democratic. To assess my leadership style I used two online tests to help me determine my style. I felt the results were accurate and I fall into a democratic style/participative style. If I am leading I prefer to include the group and get their feedback on solving issues. However, I still make the final decision after listening to the thoughts of the group on a particular topic. This is considered to be a positive style of leadership that is inspiring to the group involved. The leaders decision making tends to be more accurate due to the input of other experts. (Cite)
A charismatic leader is one whose followers are drawn to his or her personality and magnetism. They have extraordinary qualities and are described as almost god-like to those that follow them and look up to them. With being a team leader, their whole purpose is to try and allow for their passion and enthusiasm to rub off on their team members by portraying a positive and energetic attitude. Charisma stems from participating in something you truly have a passion for, something that undoubtedly sparks your interest. Charismatic leaders seem to become apparent in troubled times, whether it being within personal relationships or within an organization, simply because an inspiring personality helps to reduce any stress or anxiety amongst its followers. Charismatic leaders strongly appeal to the values and morals of their followers and the psychological ...
Charismatic Power – The ability to influence followers based on the leaders personality. Politicians often use this kind of power to get follower’s to support them.
According to McLaurin & Al Amri (2008) charismatic leaders can be defined as those who have a high self confidence, a clear vision, engage in unconventional behavior and action as a change agent, and while remaining realistic about environmental constraints. When you hear the names President Bill Clinton, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, Adolf Hitler or Larry Ellison; whether or not one can categorize their leadership style, most people are familiar with the effect that these leaders have had on society or business. These leaders have demonstrated qualities that have caused them to be known as “charismatic leaders.”
Another aspect of leadership includes leadership traits such as being influential and inspirational. There also different contexts of leadership, e.g, leading oneself, leading other individuals, leading groups, leading organizations. Some traits that are often associated with being an effective leader include a measure of intelligence, high energy, self confidence, dominance, and a need for achievement. An effective, charismatic leader must lead by example. That leader must be able to know what is going on, the job or task that is being accomplished, and be able to lead the group into performing the task at hand successfully.
Dubrin, A. J. (2007). Charismatic and transformational leadership. In Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills (5th ed., pp. 83-98). Boston, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.