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Charismatic Leadership

RUNNING HEAD: CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP

Charismatic Leadership

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Charismatic Leadership

Based on the literal meaning of the word “charismatic,” as it is stated on the thesaurus, a leadership of this kind implies that its forerunner is someone who possess a magnetic, alluring, and sympathetic personality that influences the actions of others. This person has the capacity of moving the goal of the group forward precisely because of such influence. A charismatic leader is, therefore, someone who is well-liked, and even admired, by followers. He or she is someone that appeals to their senses and finds ways to get into the feelings and emotions of people. (Elrod, 2012)

Part B

The statement “Charismatic leaders use active impression management with their followers to support their image” entails that leaders consciously or unconsciously do things with their personality traits to garnish the favor of others. According to the business dictionary, impression management is a series of behavioral expressions and other choices that are made with a purpose. (Elrod, 2012) The comment then means that leaders who have already a charming personality will use such charm to conjure a series of behavioral strategies that will make people more attracted to them. Some of these strategies include:

  • Self-presentation or self-promotion- when the leaders present themselves in a desirable manner to show others that they are perfect for what they do
  • Using entitlements- or claiming successes and facts to make themselves look superior and indispensable.
  • Enhancements- claiming being a part of something that became better thanks to that.
  • Excuses and defenses- when leaders blame others or overly protect their reputation from any wrongdoing.
  • Opinion conformity- when people make an observation to ingratiate themselves with a listener, where they tell them something they may want to hear, such as “Did you do your hair recently? Looks great!”

Therefore, some leaders may be authentic and transparent and use these tactics with honesty, while others will use them to fake their way into the emotions of the people. This is how this strategy is a double edge sword. It is hard to draw the line of ethics if you are a leader who has to lie in order to be well-liked. It is more morally healthy and ethically viable to be honest and not offer compliments that are not necessary. It is important for a leader to be liked for who she or he is and the talent that is brought into the organization.

Part C

According to Elrod (2012), an authentic leader is someone who reaches a top position by merit, talent, and hard work. As such, this person has learned the tools of the trade as well as the toils of hard work. The authentic leader will know how to evaluate because he or she is aware of the goals of the organization. Moreover, the authentic leader has no need to employ tactics of ingratiation to become well-liked. The idea is for leaders to be respected, followed, to inspire others. A real leader will be able to cause all of those things naturally.

Authenticity is therefore quite necessary. With authenticity comes transparency. With transparency comes honesty. Honestly is the best policy because it earns the trust of people naturally and organically. People will respond much more effectively to an honest leader than to one who is suspicious for being deceitful. A deceitful leader makes others feel disrespected by the possibility of them being lied to or deceived by words, work promises, or other shady tactics. Hence, authenticity is the key to a successful leadership. Another reason why authenticity is important is because it comes with no false pretenses that make people feel uncomfortable and out of place. In turn, authenticity brings with it a natural energy of acceptance and understanding that will put people at ease. This will likely inspire people to perform with more enthusiasm.

Part D

The reasons why charismatic leadership is a double edge sword are the following. First, people may be driven to make a hasty positive opinion of a leader merely based on his or her personality traits. A leader may be terrible at everything, but if he or she has charm and knows how to play ingratiating techniques, people will fall for them for all the wrong reasons.

Second, charismatic leadership is not necessarily good leadership. That a candidate is well-liked does not make him or her suitable for a position that requires complex tasks and dealing with human resources.

An example of how dangerous charismatic leadership is, can be found in the government of terror of Adolf Hitler. Hitler was one of the best speakers Germany has ever produced. He was passionate, had an immense pull and magnetism in the crowds, and had an uncanny ability to have all people focus on him. As an added bonus, he did not even have to be attractive, rich, or excessively intelligent. Still, because of his cult-like magnetism, he managed to make his 8-man cabinet into a circle of evil. The moment Hitler asked one of his cabinet men to “take care of the Jew problem”, the fate became sealed for nearly million Jews, Gypsies, disabled people and much more. His charisma let to the most diabolical moment on human history: The Holocaust. As such, the world still refused to see the huge mistake it had made in thinking that Hitler was some sort of savior of the people of Germany. One has to be very careful in the way that one selects a leader. A lot of thinking has to occur before one just decides that someone is worthy of one’s trust.

References

Elrod, D.J. (Aug 2012). The Importance of Being Authentic. Strategic Finance,(94. 2), pp. 14-

16. Retrieved from

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