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Have you ever thought about the characteristics of the most impactful leaders you have worked with? Many of us will think of leaders who were visionaries, able to influence and inspire us through their vision. These extraordinary leaders were particularly good at communicating and engaging us with their objectives for the future. If they had a magnetic personality, were self-confident, credible, excellent communicators, had a lot of influence, and a strong persuasion capacity, they were probably charismatic leaders.
A charismatic leader is someone with the ability to influence and inspire individuals. They possess a kind of personality that attracts people to them, and they use their sphere of influence, persuasiveness, and exceptional communication skills to communicate a vision to their followers. They are often regarded as credible, trustworthy, self-confident, and strive to influence people around them. They possess the unique ability to gain loyalty and devotion from their followers.
People tend to develop a deep emotional attachment to charismatic leaders. They are often willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve the leader’s goals. However, we must recognize this type of unquestioned agreement by followers has the potential to be constructive or destructive. Specifically, whether the individual is an ethical or unethical charismatic leader.
In the context of business, an ethical charismatic leader will:
Place ego aside and actively focus on efforts to achieve organizational goals.[1]
Have a strong sense of fairness and justice, courage, and integrity.
Be receptive to differing views and promote dialogue.
Be open to constructive criticism, which is attributed to high emotional intelligence.
Encourage their teams to develop a critical view of the world and consider different perspectives that had not been previously taken into consideration.
Charismatic leaders are necessary for organizations. They share both vision and purpose to employees in the globally competitive business environment we are all exposed to daily. [2] In our previous post, we discussed the dangers of unethical charismatic leadership. Our world needs more ethical charismatic leaders!
Have you ever worked with a charismatic leader? Tell us about your experience. What other characteristics would you add to our list? Do you consider yourself charismatic? Leave a comment here or send us an email at info@leaderessentialsgroup.com.
Vera Alves is the Chief Consulting Officer at Leader Essentials Group, with extensive leadership development and business management experience. With over 12 years of experience as a C-suite executive, Vera is highly skilled in the areas of leadership, strategic planning, operations management, organizational behavior, and change management. She possesses strong communication, training, and linguistic skills reflective of a very persuasive and charismatic leadership style.
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[1] Russell, J. E. A. (2016, March 18). Career Coach: Watch out for the dark side of charisma. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-business/wp/2016/03/18/career-coach-watch-out-for-the-dark-side-of-charisma/
[2] Jung, D. & Sosik, J. J. (2006). Who Are the Spellbinders? Identifying Personal Attributes of Charismatic Leaders. (4th ed., Vol. 12). Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies
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