Charismatic Leadership: A Double-Edged Sword

Charismatic leadership is a type of leadership where individuals with inspiring qualities and power are given the authority to make changes in an organization, leading to extraordinary performances by staff. It involves characteristics such as communication, maturity, humility, compassion, and confidence. Charismatic leaders use active impression management to maintain their image, which can be both beneficial and detrimental depending on their intentions. If used for self-interest, charisma can be a 'double-edged sword' that requires careful monitoring.

Q. What is Charismatic leadership?
Ans. Charismatic leadership (Van Knippenberg, D., & Sitkin, S. B. (2013)) is referred to the
instructions provided by an individual to an organization by individual/individuals who are
considered as inspiring people and who have hence been given the power to make suitable
changes in an organisation which would result in extraordinary performances by staff.
For example: A business manager with help of charismatic leadership could launch a new
product line in the company.
Following are the most prominent characteristics of charismatic leadership:
1. Communication - It is the most important skill of charismatic leaders as it helps to
motivate employees, stay grounded and make them comfortable while communicating.
2. Maturity - They perform with their wisdom and knowledge and perform in a required
manner maturely.
3. Humility – They value each employee, listen to their concerns and inspire them to work
with loyalty.
4. Compassion – The basic qualities a charismatic leader exhibits are compassion, integrity,
honesty and fortitude .
5. Confidence – They understand themselves efficiently and do not try to be anyone else.
Q. Explain what is meant by the statement that charismatic leaders use active impression
management with their followers to support their image. Provide and elaborate on one
example.
Ans. Impression management is the process in which people make efficient attempt to
influence the perceptions about a person, object or event. Therefor impression
management helps charismatic leaders while performing major functions and granting
organizational powers. This suggests that charismatic leaders practice impression
management to prepare an image of competence and subordinate-faith in them as leaders.
Researchers has said that (LePine, M. A., Zhang, Y., Crawford, E. R., & Rich, B. L. (2015),
charismatic leadership is more likely to flourish in the environment with transformational
culture as compared to transactional culture.
This can be explained with the example of Martin Luther king and Mahatma Gandhi.
They are the examples of trusting someone and moral responsibility. They expected their
followers to imbibe the non-violent character. Gandhi’s fasting and dress symbolized the
simplicity and discipline to change the world. In same manner, charismatic leaders
sometimes involve instruments of self-promotion to become innovative, effective,
competent, etc.
Q. Why is charismatic leadership considered double-edged sword that requires careful
monitoring to avert abuse?
Ans. An effective leader (Moawad, R., & Jones, S. (2015) ) sometimes goes beyond the
personal interest and gains and performs for the needs of the organization. This occasionally
transforms into doing something that is not in their interest but is for the best of the

company. So, if a charismatic leader could imbibe this attribute of an effective leader then
charisma could become a very powerful tool to for inspiring others to achieve the goals. But
if they use their charisma for their own purpose then it can become a hindrance for a
leader’s long-term effectiveness.
Therefore, a charismatic leader has a responsibility to behave in a clear and such a manner
that it helps him/her to recognize and understand their true intentions before engaging in
influencing others. And if the intention of the leader is for the greater good and better
performance then it is very effective and helpful. Thus, if used for self-interest, charisma can
be considered a ‘Double-edged sword’.
So, a charismatic leader has this responsibility of clearly recognizing and understanding their
true intentions before engaging in the act of influencing others.

REFRENCES
1. Van Knippenberg, D., & Sitkin, S. B. (2013). A critical assessment of charismatic—
Transformational leadership research: Back to the drawing board?. The Academy of
Management Annals, 7(1), 1-60.
2. LePine, M. A., Zhang, Y., Crawford, E. R., & Rich, B. L. (2015). Turning Their Pain to Gain:
Charismatic Leader Influence on Follower Stress Appraisal and Job Performance. Academy
of Management Journal, amj-2013
3. Moawad, R., & Jones, S. (2015). Who Is an Effective Leader?-Ways of Measuring
Leadership Effectiveness. Effective Executive, 18(4), 11.