Charismatic Leadership: Theory and Application

This assignment delves into the concept of charismatic leadership. It requires students to examine the theoretical underpinnings of charisma in leadership, its influence on followers and organizations, and real-world examples illustrating its application. Students should also critically evaluate both the positive and negative aspects of charismatic leadership.

Self-Audit
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Leadership theory (Charismatic Leadership)...................................................................................3
Understanding the different context of charismatic leadership theory........................................3

Use of charismatic theory to deal with the challenges................................................................4
Personal Reflection..........................................................................................................................6
Experience shaping thought process for project leadership........................................................6
Reflection on personal demonstration of leadership skills..........................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Leadership helps themselves and others to do right things in the systematic manner. It
guides the right way in terms of accomplishing the objectives in an efficient manner. This also
makes the leaders to create something new and different. Present report is based on self audit in
terms of different leadership styles. It gives new style of learning and power to give the best
output to the company. It will further discuss about the charismatic leadership theory, in which
report will be discuss about the main aspects of the theory and methods through which they
overcome from the challenges. Furthermore, it also will explain the leadership theory in which
study will explain about the different aspects of styles.
Main Body
Leadership theory (Charismatic Leadership)
Leadership theories are the important aspects of different studies which defines the
importance of leader (Antonakis and Day, eds., 2017). Charismatic theory is one of the theory of
leadership which relies on the charm and persuasiveness of the leader. These leaders are driven
on the basis of their values and focus on the main objectives. They take things in systematic
manner on the basis of set structure. Sometimes, this theory is known as transformational theory
because the charismatic leaders are focused on the goals or sometimes transform the organisation
into leader’s vision.
Charismatic leaders are well communicator individuals who connect with the people with
great aspects on the basis of good behaviour and communication skills (Charismatic leadership
guide, (2016). They are well-known predictors and find out the upcoming crisis in the market.
Moreover, they already prepare their plans and decision making process in order to overcome
the uncertain situations. It is the most competitive and important aspect of the organisation
success. Charismatic leaders devote their time and efforts in order to expertise in all fields. They
have clear vision and mission towards their work and get completed within given time period. It
is the most essential and important theory of leadership which explains the necessary terms to
doing things (Dinh and et.al., (2014).
Understanding the different context of charismatic leadership theory
Charismatic theory is a style through which leaders adopt experience and good peers at
workplace. They make ways and new methods on which organisations can easily accomplish
their objectives and target within set of structure (Charismatic leadership guide, (2016). It is the

most inspirational and graceful. They influence many other individuals to become confident and
take initiatives for the new achievements. The decision making by the charismatic leaders
influence other leaders and employees in terms of getting success in every field. This leadesrhip
theory helps to motivate employees in order to take initiative for better performance (Dvir and
et.al., (2015). This style of leadership has been giving great outputs and growth since from many
years, they give different approaches to perform the task in full of enthusiasm and confidence.
This is the biggest influencing theory behind charismatic theory has been developed by Max
Weber and Robert J. House. Charismatic leadership theory having three elements which is
discussed below:
 Fear – Follows the well-structured code of conduct in order to secure productive
envelopment.
 Self-interest – you follow the targets for the sack of monetary benefits.
 Habit – you simply obey the socialisation of authority.
Charismatic leadership theory having straight forward objectives which helps to focus on
the main objective (North-south, (2018).
Self-confidence: It is the key aspect of leaders who support and help to handle the
uncertain situations. These types of leadership help to take the different good aspects in terms of
performing task with full beliefs. This assists to encourage the rest to believe on the leaders
(Ingram, 2016).
Strong convictions about the vision: Organisation faces issues due to improper
management or lack of coordination among employees. It becomes difficult task to take decision.
Charismatic leader are well perfect to identify the best possible solutions with the help of strong
sense of humour and confidence. They perform task in very effective manner.
Connects with people: Charismatic leaders have ability to make good networking with
peoples with their good communication skills. Through which they maintained healthy working
environment and determine new opportunities for the company (Meuser and et.al., 2016).
Convincing: Charismatic is an attractive and effective salesman as well. They get things
in terms of serious manner in order to meet the final objectives and goals. However, they are the
good sales persons who participating in every term. They make new skills and convincing power
to attract numbers of customers towards the organisation goals.

Use of charismatic theory to deal with the challenges
There are various challenges that are faced by the organization and its leader. It becomes
important to cope up with them so that adequate amount of revenue can be generated from the
same. Charismatic theory is majorly related to charm and persuasiveness of the leader. It is
mainly driven by commitment of the leader which persuade subordinates. Powerful oratory skills
held by the leader can be used to persuade the subordinates at the time of drop in business. Being
an engaging personality helps in making the employees feel a sense of belongingness. It helps in
bringing positive change. It helps in inspiring people for a specific cause. For instance, if the
motive of organization is to increase its sales by 20% within next month. In that case, a
charismatic leader can indulge in motivating and persuading them in such a manner where, they
can achieve it with utmost faith and indulgence (Pierro and et.al., 2013).
The main benefit of having a charismatic leader in the organization is that they benchmark
quality of services and work upon it so that the best is delivered to the end users. They are able to
stand with the different view and can come up with the ways and methods that can be used to
ensure effective working in the business. They are able to bridge the gap between workers and
management so that the requirements of both the parties can be fulfilled with the aim of
generating better outputs.
Charismatic leaders are unique as the authority possessed by them in largely based upon the
idealistic trait. It is due to this reason the subordinates working under them are able to follow the
rules and regulations described by the leader. They have adequate charisma so as to ensure long
lasting stabilized economy. They have strong personality to unite employees and followers even
at the time of darkest crisis, since, they are assertive and do not treat their followers in
authoritative manner (Dries and Pepermans, 2012). They are the leaders, innovators, legends and
are generally more successful in comparison to any other type of leader. Holding positive traits
while running any type of business makes them a perfect choice to be a part of organization
which is facing constant challenges and struggling to generate profits from the same.
Team work is said to be an important aspect to achieve success on certain grounds for the
organization. Charismatic business leaders are magnetic enough to mould the team members in
such a manner that they tend to indulge in team working. These leaders are deep rooted with
passion, values and arguments where, they tend to link them with expectations, fear, hope and
vision. They are able to set high goals which prove to be fruitful in the situation of

ineffectiveness or downturn of the business. They tend to set their goals high and ensure that the
same is communicated to the subordinates in the well-defined manner (Ruggieri and Abbate,
2013).
Various studies have indicated that Charismatic leadership is not only confined to the
situation when a company Is facing economic end. But, it is also said to be effective in a state
where each individual working in the organization can flourish with high ethical and professional
orientation. It bows down the process of success in the right direction where high amount of
profitability can be achieved by the team and then by the organization as well.
Personal Reflection
Experience shaping thought process for project leadership
Charismatic leadership have been the most powerful leadership style that has helped in
bringing back the business and profitability which could have gone to liquidity without it (Oreg
and Berson, 2015). Discussing my own experience, I used to work as sales personnel with one of
the leading marketing company, where, I was led by a sales manager who used to set out sales
target of every month. The company, I was working with, was facing downturn and constant loss
since a few years due to ineffective management and sales personnel not able to bring adequate
amount of sales to the company which could have generated adequate amount of profits.
As a charismatic leader, our sales manager was quite distressed with the performance of the
team and losses the company was bearing. Hence, to cope up with the situation, he organized
constant meetings with the team in order to describe the current situation and company and
welcomed feedbacks and comments as well. It helped in building a team in the manner where,
sales personnel started supporting each other’s opinion. I, being one of those started trusting on
myself and giving my best in the job where, I started achieving better outputs every week.
Since, the sales manager was persuading enough, he used to constantly motivate us in a
manner that we reduced taking leaves and used to work day and night (Aronica, 2017). Every
time new marketing strategies used to be discussed where, I started admiring him and looking up
to him for achievement of goals and objectives being framed by him for each of us after
analysing our strengths and weaknesses. The extra ordinary support I received from sales
managers helped me to grow and manage to earn sales and performance linked incentives as
well. He acted as a role model, setting best example for the team to develop an environment
which is effective and workable. I was able to stretch my abilities to the zone where I never

noticed myself to be in, ultimately producing effective results. I was also given chances to
present my views regarding the changes the organization should bring so as to achieve adequate
amount of success. It makes me happy to be at the position I am today. I am now motivated
enough to work in such a manner where, I get support from the employer and I am able to
perform my tasks with utmost dedication.
He is able to capture the attention of each and every individual working in the team and
people started listening to him as well. In order to make the company successful, it is important
that the leader Is good and effective enough to motivate the team and delegate the duties based
upon strength and weakness possessed by each and every individual. A leader is generally
evaluated based upon how well he has been able to place his idea in the minds of subordinates
(Pundt, 2014). The idealized version of leader was achieved by the sales manager due to
tremendous support he received from the team mates.
The incident has brought drastic change in my overall thinking related to leadership. The
charisma, ability and idealised version of a leader he reflected has been able to give perfect
example to me with respect to the leadership. It helped in articulating that an individual must be
charismatic enough to handle his team in the most effective manner. It helps in turning the
negatives poles to positive one by strategizing, persuading, being visionary and leaving strong
and positive impression to the team mates. Earlier, my thought regarding leaders was not the
same earlier where I used to think that any one could be a leader. However, my perspective
regarding it changed to the core when I got to know the working and vision aspect of my sales
manager.
Reflection on personal demonstration of leadership skills
Being with a small-scale business, an individual need to have the ability to cope up with the
contingencies and uncertain events that crop up in the organization without any notice. In such
cases, it becomes important for the leader to take decisions that can help in reducing the risk to
the minimum. Moreover, all the pros, cons and results must be analysed in such a manner that
minimum negative impact can be borne by the team (Weber and Moore, 2014).
Being an operations manager at a small-scale clothing enterprise, I need to focus upon the
demand that is arising in the business. Due to shortage of staff in research and development
department, I also have to assess the changing taste and preferences of the customers with
respect to clothing. Due to belongingness to the sector which is quite dynamic and ever

changing, it becomes important to focus upon how much amount of stock will be kept in
warehouse. Due to sudden change fashion from bell bottom to narrow demins, a lot of stock was
lying unsold in the warehouse. The profits were running down that I was not able to cope up with
the working capital of the business as well.
I tried to motivate the workers to convert all the denims into the narrow one so as to go with
the trend of the business in next one week. I also made sure that if they are working till late
night, I am there to encourage and support them. I used to give them short breaks between their
work so as to take care of their health. I also ensured that the vision I have created to deal with
the contingencies is able to achieved. Hence, I contacted to retailers who can directly buy those
narrow jeans. In this manner, I, with the team was able to achieve the target with adequate
amount of profits.
There are various skills I was able to present as a leader. Attributes to developing trust in a
team so that they do not lose hope and work towards the success of organization (Ingram, H. J.,
2016). Charismatic leadership quality can help in doing the same in such a manner where,
building a relationship between management and workers can help in greatly achieving greater
outputs for the company. It plays a crucial role for a small business organization as the risk is
more and profits are low. Sometimes, authoritative nature is also required so as to cope up with
the challenges that crop up during the process. Injecting adequate dose of enthusiasm to the team
is another aspect that is required to be considered as a charismatic leader. Hence, it can be stated
that great amount of responsibility is carried by a charismatic leadership having long term
commitment (Stutje, 2012).
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that, charismatic leadership style helps in making
the leader enthusiastic enough and injecting the same to the team members as well. Presence of
this type of leader helps in bringing high amount of profits with effective amount of satisfaction
of the employees. Hence, it can be stated that, it is an effective leadership style that must be
adopted by the leaders for effective leadership (Cavazotte, Hartman and Bahiense, 2014).

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Antonakis, J. & Day, D. V. eds. (2017). The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Aronica, M. T. ed.. (2017). Beyond Charismatic Leadership: New York Catholic Women's
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Cavazotte, F., Hartman, N. S. & Bahiense, E. (2014). Charismatic leadership, citizenship
behaviors, & power distance orientation: Comparing Brazilian & US workers. Cross-
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Dinh, J. E. & et.al. (2014). Leadership theory & research in the new millennium: Current
theoretical trends & changing perspectives. The Leadership Quarterly. 25(1). pp.36-62.
Dries, N. & Pepermans, R. (2012). How to identify leadership potential: Development & testing
of a consensus model. Human Resource Management. 51(3). pp.361-385.
Dvir, T., & et.al. (2015). The impact of Transformational Leadership.
Ingram, H. J. (2016). Literature Review: Charismatic Leadership Theory. In The Charismatic
Leadership Phenomenon in Radical & Militant Islamism (pp. 21-36). Routledge.
Ingram, H. J. (2016). The charismatic leadership phenomenon in radical & militant Islamism.
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Meuser, J. D., & et.al. (2016). A network analysis of leadership theory: The infancy of
integration. Journal of Management. 42(5). pp.1374-1403.
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory & practice. Sage publications.
Oreg, S. & Berson, Y. (2015). Personality & charismatic leadership in context: The moderating
role of situational stress. Personnel Psychology. 68(1). pp.49-77.
Pierro, A. & et.al. (2013). Bases of social power, leadership styles, & organizational
commitment. International Journal of Psychology. 48(6). pp.1122-1134.
Pundt, A. (2014). A multiple pathway model linking charismatic leadership attempts & abusive
supervision. Zeitschrift für Psychologie. 222(4). p.190.

Ruggieri, S. & Abbate, C. S. (2013). Leadership style, self-sacrifice, & team
identification. Social Behavior & Personality: an international journal. 41(7). pp.1171-
1178.
Stutje, J. W. ed., 2012. Charismatic leadership & social movements: the revolutionary power of
ordinary men & women (Vol. 19). Berghahn Books.
Weber, J. M. & Moore, C. (2014). Squires: Key followers & the social facilitation of charismatic
leadership. Organizational Psychology Review. 4(3). pp.199-227.
Online
Charismatic leadership guide. (2016). [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.cleverism.com/charismatic-leadership-guide/>.