Leadership Skills – Charismatic and Authenticity
Part A
Describe charismatic leadership in your own words
Charismatic leadership is a leadership style that includes using charm to influence followers’ behaviors. Charismatic leaders demonstrate charm through persuasiveness, communication skills, and being friendly to influence others. According to Lowe & Bathula (2019), charismatic leaders can deeply connect with others, particularly the valuable people within an organization who may be experiencing challenges moving forward. One of the characteristics of charismatic leadership is good communication. Charismatic leaders are good at choosing their words to pass a compelling message and establish rapport with others to maintain collaboration in meeting a shared goal. They also ensure that the message is clear and relevant. Another characteristic of charismatic leaders is the ability to accommodate and respect people from different races, ethnic groups, cultures, genders, and sexuality. They are also willing to learn from their mistakes and leverage various opportunities to learn from their followers. Charismatic leadership also includes being humble when dealing with followers. Charismatic leaders treat employees equally and with dignity. They also lead by example because they understand that their followers look up to them as role models. The concept of having charisma is being attractive to others; hence, there is a need to exhibit behavior that appeals to followers. For example, a charismatic leader may be active in helping the community to remain attractive to followers who value philanthropy. Therefore, charismatic leadership is founded on being a good example to followers and appealing to people’s emotions to encourage specific conduct.
Part B
Explain what the statement means that charismatic leaders use active impression management with their followers to support their images as role models. Provide and elaborate on one original example.
The statement that charismatic leaders use active impression management with their followers to support their images as role models means that they exhibit the behaviors they want their followers to have. They set an example for their followers by displaying behaviors and traits that align with their mission or vision. Charismatic leaders also challenge the status quo to support their images as role models by building a positive image that followers can admire to contribute to how the followers view them and their conclusion on whether they are trustworthy and competent leaders with a lifestyle that aligns with their vision or mission (Gorman & Gorman, 2016). Charismatic leaders also use their image to empower their followers by creating confidence in their ability to meet and exceed their followers’ perceptions. They also take risks to uphold their image and challenge the status quo to demonstrate their commitment to their vision and mission so that they can be good role models. Charismatic leaders also use active impression management with their followers to support their images as role models by using their communication skills to encourage positive emotional responses from their followers to create a good relationship with them and ensure that the organization’s goals are met. They evaluate an organization’s current status quo or situation and review the challenges encountered in implementing its vision. They also develop goals and act as role models to demonstrate how they can be achieved.
The view of charismatic leaders as role models is also evident in how they demonstrate their enthusiasm and commitment to meeting an organization’s mission (Gorman & Gorman, 2016). For example, Steve Jobs used charismatic leadership to help Apple Inc. overcome crises. He used anecdotes and quotes to inspire employees by making them view challenges from a broader perspective. One of the quotes that could have created positive emotions among employees was, “Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.” He led by example to demonstrate the reality of this quote by creating a culture of empowerment and autonomy in the company to encourage employees to be innovative.
Part C
In your own words, describe what it means to be an authentic leader.
Being an authentic leader means maintaining transparency to develop genuine relationships without conflicts of interest. According to Dimovski et al. (2012), authentic leaders act in line with deep personal convictions and values to create credibility and win the trust and respect of followers by encouraging diverse viewpoints and developing collaborative relationships with followers. Therefore, authentic leadership can be developed over time by acquiring emotional intelligence, self-awareness, empathy, transparency, and open-mindedness. Self-awareness includes understanding one’s behaviors, emotions, and thoughts. Emotional intelligence is characterized by compassion, motivation, social awareness, and self-regulation. Transparency includes being honest. Empathy includes understanding how one thinks or feels, and open-mindedness includes having an open perspective that enables a person to accept different ideas.
Why is authenticity important for leaders? Provide two reasons
Authenticity promotes transparency in communication in an organization, leading to various benefits. One of the benefits is an increase in an employee’s morale. Transparency makes employees feel valued, leading to increased employee morale. Transparency also increases clarity in communication, thus enhancing employee morale because they understand what is expected of them (Gomathy, 2022). Another benefit of transparent communication in an organization is increasing productivity by increasing employee engagement and strengthening employee trust. It also creates a conducive work environment, enabling employees to be committed to their work. Authenticity also increases the participation of employees in decision-making by allowing the leaders to build strong relationships with employees.
Part D
Why is charismatic leadership considered a double-edged sword that requires careful monitoring to avert abuse? Provide two reasons and one original example illustrating this phenomenon.
Charismatic leadership is considered a double-edged sword that requires careful monitoring to avert abuse because charismatic leaders can motivate followers to be committed to achieving a goal and perform well by inspiring them with a great vision, but it can also increase the risk of abuse of power leading to destructive and unethical behavior. According to Lai (2021), charismatic leaders may abuse their power by taking advantage of followers who view them as role models and manipulating them. For example, leaders who want to use their position to generate wealth may exhibit behaviors that appeal to the followers to maintain their position and manipulate the followers by making promises on how they will improve their well-being if reelected for the leadership position. This is evident in politics, where some politicians use their positions to enrich themselves and their families and use money and false promises during campaigns to manipulate voters to reelect them or elect them for a higher leadership position. Charismatic leadership is also considered a double-edged sword that requires careful monitoring to avert abuse. Charismatic leaders can set visions that benefit the organization or meet their personal needs and goals. Therefore, it is vital to ensure that a charismatic leader’s decisions are evaluated to determine whether they are in the organization’s and followers’ best interest or the leader’s. Charismatic leaders may set visions that meet their personal needs due to conflicts of interest or the desire to achieve personal growth. For example, charismatic leaders may set a vision to expand the organization to attract investors so that they can use some of the money from the investors to complete personal projects before their leadership tenure ends.
References
Dimovski, V., Ferjan, M., Marič, M., Uhan, M., Jovanović, M., & Janežič, M. (2012). Authentic Leadership to the Future. Škola Biznisa, 1. https://doi.org/UDC 005.322:316.46
Gomathy, D. C. (2022). The strategies for boosting employee morale in an organization. International Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management, 06(02). https://doi.org/10.55041/ijsrem11554
Gorman, S. E., & Gorman, J. M. (2016). Charismatic leaders. Denying to the Grave. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199396603.003.0006
Lai, L. (2021, January 8). The charisma of leaders is a double-edged sword. BI Business Review. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://www.bi.edu/research/business-review/articles/2020/09/the-charisma-of-leaders-is-a-double-edged-sword/
Lowe, K. B., & Bathula, H. (2019). Charismatic and transformational leadership. Management. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199846740-0160
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Question 
Leadership Skills – Charismatic and Authenticity
Part A
Describe charismatic leadership in your own words.
Part B
Explain what the statement means that charismatic leaders use active impression management with their followers to support their image as role models. Provide and elaborate on one (1) original example.
Part C
Access the following article using ProQuest, the Ashworth College online library:
Elrod, D.J. (Aug 2012). The Importance of Being Authentic. Strategic Finance, (94. 2), pp. 14- 16.
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1034607363/1421F5DA359502A0DC2/1?accountid=45844
NOTE: To access ProQuest articles, you MUST open a Web browser window to the Ashworth College Library; otherwise, you will be denied access to the articles when you click the links. Once your browser opens to the Ashworth College Library, click the link for the article you need to read.
Respond to the following:
1. In your own words, describe what it means to be an authentic leader. 2. Why is authenticity important for leaders? Provide two (2) reasons.
Part D
Why is charismatic leadership considered a double-edged sword that requires careful monitoring to avert abuse? Provide two (2) reasons and one (1) original example illustrating this phenomenon.