Swimming in the charismatic ocean: a tail of a leader and her follower
https://ilokabenneth.blogspot.com/2014/10/swimming-in-charismatic-ocean-tail-of.html
Author: Iloka Benneth Chiemelie
Published: 20-October-2014
Vivian
(Mrs.) is presently my MD at Textsworth Publishing Limited, Lagos Nigeria. She
is a very charismatic young lady with high vibes for success and she is always
committed towards ensuring that she attains any goal she sets. I started
working with Textsworth as a marketing executive in December 2013 before being
promoted as a brand manager in 2014. A month space isn’t it? It took many
people by surprise (including myself). I have become so close with her and more
than just a staff because of her charismatic way of leadership. She is a
charming jewel, with high level of charisma, persuasive and communicative,
encouraging and always fulfilling (at least in the professional line that I
have come to know her). I describe her as a charismatic leader because:
1. She
took time to coach me through brand management and leadership by putting me
through difficult tasks while also providing necessary guidelines for
delivering such task requirements.
2. She
is easily accessible and communicative, allowing me to voice out my fears
completely and designing right steps to regain my full potentials.
3. She
has a very strong and fighting spirit, which motivates me a lot because I began
to believe that all things are possible if you put in your best.
4. She
has a clear vision of what she expects from me a well as time frame for such
visions t be articulated, thus pushing me to put in the best of my focused
efforts towards meeting such visions. This really helped my sense of focus and
strategic management.
In
line with Samnani & Singh (2013), a charismatic leader is one can influence
followers’ behavior and make them loyal. Charismatic leaders are recognized for
their power to draw the loyalty of followers to themselves (Sankowsky, 1995). They are leaders that can make use
of personal charm, persuasive communication, and attractiveness to influence
followers (House, 1977; Judge, Piccolo, & Kosalka,
2009). Charismatic leaders have well-articulated vision of what they
want to achieve and they inspire followers through this vision. Research also
has it that followers tend to internalize the communicated values and goals of
charismatic leaders (House, Spangler, & Woycke,
1991).
From
the above analysis, it is very clear that my MD is a charismatic leader because
she exhibits the characteristics of a charismatic leader as showcased in the above
discussion. From my personal experience, I think that charismatic leaders have
the ability to increase and sustain productivity and profitability because they
always bring out the best in a follower. Additionally, I strongly believe that
charismatic leadership style is different from transformational leadership
style in the sense that transformational leadership is all about change to meet
set goals (probability), but charismatic meeting set goals through change
(certainty).
References
House, R. J. (1977). A 1976 theory of charismatic
leadership. In J. G. Hunt, & L. L. Larson (Eds.), Leadership: The cutting
edge (pp. 189–207). Carbondale, IL: South Illinois University Press.
House, R. J., Spangler, W. D., & Woycke, J.
(1991). Personality and charisma in the U.S. presidency: A psychology theory of
leadership effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 374–396.
Judge, T. A., Piccolo, R. F., & Kosalka, T.
(2009). The bright and dark sides of leader traits: A review and theoretical
extension of the leader trait paradigm. The Leadership Quarterly, 20, 855–875.
Samnani, A. & Singh, P. (2013) ‘When leaders
victimize: The role of charismatic leaders in facilitating group pressures’,
Leadership Quarterly 24 (1), pp. 189-202.
Sankowsky, D. (1995). The charismatic leader as
narcissist: Understanding the abuse of power. Organizational Dynamics, 23,
57–71.