Charismatic leadership and the risk of manipulation and abuse

¶ … charismatic leadership?

A charismatic leader is an individual who can inspire a team to accomplish a specified goal. In many instances, a charismatic leader can inspire a team to achieve synergies in their overall functions. These leaders have an ability to create a vision that is often larger than the individual components that comprise it (Herman, 2003). This vision, provides an emotional appear to the respective team members. It is these emotions that ultimately provide an incentive for team members to achieve more than they believed possible. We see these emotional appeals by charismatic leaders both in sports and in business. A sports team may be experiencing some form of controversy throughout the season. However, through charismatic leadership, the head coach finds a way to strike and emotional appeal with the team that allows them to overcome the adversity. For example, we saw this in the NBA finals where Michael Jordan overcame the flu to lead his team to a championship.

Part B: Explain what the statement means that charismatic leaders use active impression management with their followers to support their image. Provide and elaborate on one example.

Through social interaction, leaders attempt to alter perceptions through their behavior and communication. Charismatic leaders selectively use communication to inspire and motivate their constituents. They are selective in their behavior because they don't want their motivational tactics to become stale. What makes a charismatic leader influential is their tone and behavior. These characteristics are contagious in large part due to active impression management. Charismatic leaders often pick the appropriate time to act or to appropriately inspire others. A prime example is Bill Belichick, coach for the New England Patriots. He has one of the most outstanding records of professional success in the NFL. He was multiple championships and has one of the best winning percentages in NFL history. However, he rarely gives animated interviews. He rarely gives insights to the public and rarely details his strategy. He inspires his team every week through his impressions however. He often provides "bulletin board material," consisting of negative statements aimed at his team. He inspires them by focusing on many of the small mistakes they make in practice, thereby not allowing them to stay complacent. These impressions, albeit small, help to inspire his teams to become better each week (Leary, 1990).

Part C: Why is charismatic leadership considered a double-edged sword that requires careful monitoring to avert abuse?