Leadership Article Review Reflection: Character vs Charisma Debate

This report is an article review reflecting on the significance of character in leadership, contrasting it with charisma. The review examines an article that emphasizes the importance of a leader's core values and integrity in driving organizational excellence. It highlights that while charismatic traits such as dynamism and emotional intelligence are important, character, which encompasses a leader's values, behavior, and vision, is the critical measure for achieving long-term success. The report discusses the potential pitfalls of charismatic leaders, such as self-centeredness, and underscores the need for leaders to promote positive values, decision-making, and dependability. The review concludes that character, rather than charisma, is the key criterion for fostering a positive organizational culture and driving the pursuit of excellence. The article stresses that character, which influences a person’s vision, behavior and determines his or her goals for excellence, is the key to drive an organisation towards excellence.

Running head: ARTICLE REVIEW REFLECTION
Article Review Reflection
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

1ARTICLE REVIEW REFLECTION
The article “Character not charisma is the Critical Measure of Leadership Excellence”
explores the characteristics of a good leader. The characteristics of a leader is important in the
sense that core values help in influencing the leader’s behaviour, his ethics and vision thereby
leading to organisational excellence.
The main objective of the article discussed is to evaluate the significance of character in
the development of leadership. The concept of leadership was very important especially after the
world war. In a sense charisma is not something which is directly related to the running of an
organisation. The concept which is often misunderstood is that only a sense of authority is not
crucial for the success of an organisation. On the other hand if a leader clearly explains and
shares the vision of the organisation it becomes a matter of shared interests and the entire
organisation works towards a common goal.
Charisma mainly focuses on personality attributes namely dynamism, the image,
inspiration, the symbolic behaviours, emotional intelligence, the empathetic understanding and
clearly articulating a vision. There are negativities associated with charismatic leaders as well.
They might become selfish and self centred in case they are prone towards narcissism. In case
the leaders are more focussed on their personal goals, their leadership becomes more self
centred, this leads them to always focus on self service (Character, Not Charisma, Is The
Critical Measure of Leadership, 2017).
Character is something which is based on the core values of a leader. It is a factor which
influences a person’s vision, behaviour and determines his or her goals for excellence. A leader’s
character should never be compromised on. It needs to be ensured that a leader has integrity as
followers are bound to emulate a leader. According to conducting reports it has been found that

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majority of people feel a leader’s ideals or integrity is compromised when he or she displays
arrogance, promotes self interest, deals unfairly and does anything negative.
The environment of an organisation cannot be positive and congenial to excellence by
itself but it needs to be cultivated primarily by the leaders of organisations. In case the leaders
promote the values of positivity, decision making, dependability, achievement which can
promote it towards excellence, the other employees and subordinates are likely to follow suit.
The morality, the consideration, the imaginative understanding of a leader is attributes
which are linked to the character of a leader. These are not aspects of a leader’s charisma.
Today’s competitive world, requires more of consideration, transformation and core values
rather than information. Leadership is something which is not only crucial but also indispensible
to an organizational culture which focuses on striving for excellence. The main role in the
propagation of a positive culture for a particular organisation is possible because of a leader in
the true sense. Charismatic behaviour is not negative but hardly beneficial in leading all
individuals of an organisation towards excellence. This helps us infer that character is the sole
criterion which helps an organisation as a whole strive towards excellence (Character, Not
Charisma, Is The Critical Measure of Leadership, 2017).

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Reference:
Character, Not Charisma, Is The Critical Measure of Leadership.
(2017). Thewindchime.blogspot.in. Retrieved 24 November 2017, from
http://thewindchime.blogspot.in/2010/01/character-critical-measure-of.html