The Dark Side of Charismatic Leaders and the Search for an Ideal Leadership Style

Running head: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Leadership is the act through which an individual leads a group of people or an
organisation. A leader is a person who has ethical and moral values and the ability to lead a
group of people towards a set goal and shows them the way to achieve the goal. There are
several leadership styles which are based on the characteristics and the values that one has.
Every leader has different styles of leading and this where the leadership styles come from
(Silva, 2016). The different kinds of leadership styles are transformational leadership, servant
leadership, transactional leadership, laissez-faire leadership, autocratic leadership,
bureaucratic leadership, democratic leadership and charismatic leadership. Just like the good
qualities that every leader possesses, there are dark sides to them as well. This essay will
critically discuss the dark side of charismatic leaders and derive if there is any leadership
style which is ideal for every individual.
Shamir, Arthur and House (2018) states charismatic leaders as individuals who hold
charisma in their personality and are able to influence the people and lead them with his
power of attraction and the effect that they have on the people with their style of speech and
convincing power. Graham, Ziegert and Capitano (2015) observe that the charismatic
elements of this kind of leadership style to give a clear sense of direction and purpose and a
proper vision to the followers so that they are able to go on a fixed path towards the
achievement of their goals. The charismatic nature that the leader incorporates in this
leadership style motivates the followers to work harder for the fulfilment of their goals and to
provide better results. Bell (2013) further states that the followers are influenced by the
charismatic leader due to the knowledge that he possesses, his expertise in the field that he is
leading in and the control that he holds over the situation. Moreover, communication is a
major attribute of any leadership style. This is why a charismatic leader should be able to
effectively communicate with his followers and not just give out information. The leader
should be able to understand the characters and habits of his followers so that it becomes

2
ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
easier for him to lead the group. Charismatic leaders are the best in giving public speeches
and connecting with the crowd and motivating them in any situation. They are able to deliver
any message in the best way and excite the crowd with the importance of the message. They
are able the understand every situation in a much deeper way which helps these leaders to
better lead the group and also help them solve any issues that might be faced by the group.
Antonakis and Day (2017) further proposed that charismatic leaders can help to make
changes in the society and they are the ones who have the capability to emotionally appeal to
the crowd and have them follow him to fulfil the mission of the leader.
However, charismatic leaders also have a dark side which comes into being when they
are most vulnerable. Even though these leaders are able to attract a large group of the crowd
to themselves, there are several instances where the leader fail to do so. To understand this it
is first important to understand the concept of the dark side. Kaiser, LeBreton and Hogan
(2015) define the characteristics of the dark side as being dysfunctional, counterproductive
and subclinical. These characteristics can prove to be a major defect for the personality of an
individual. The dark side is defined in this research as the personality that is portrayed by an
individual when they are tired, stresses or not worried about the way that they are being
perceived by other people. According to Karakitapoğlu-Aygün and Gumusluoglu (2013), the
dark side of charismatic leadership style will give rise to traits such as unethical behaviours,
injustice, abuse of power and others. These traits do not allow the followers from realising
their goal and hence prevents them from finding ways to achieve them. This research further
divulges into the concept that the dark side of leadership can lead to the downfall of the
organisation and the followers since the leader would not be able to lead the followers in the
right direction and supervise them in their actions. The behaviour that is portrayed by the
leaders during this time will not be in the interest of the followers or the organisation but their