Charismatic Leadership
The Basic Idea
Think about the CEO of your company – or the CEOs of your friends, family members, or famous companies. What characteristics do they share? What makes them appealing?
Leaders need to ensure that their employees are engaged, motivated, and respect their authority. They also need to have a positive public appearance. Since a lot of our opinions are formed on perceptions and impressions, one effective leadership style is charismatic leadership.
Charismatic leadership refers to leaders with confidence, a clear vision, strong communication skills, and an attuned empathy and emotional capacity.
We’re all familiar with Martin Luther King’s famous speech, “I have a dream…”. He is an example of a leader who used charisma to inspire and influence his followers, which enabled him to mobilize change. His ability to clearly convey his beliefs and elicit an emotional response is why he is regarded as a highly successful leader.
Since charismatic leadership can have such a positive and lasting effect, understanding the theory surrounding charismatic leadership can help leaders in any field mobilize people towards change.
When you put together deep knowledge about a subject that intensely matters to you, charisma happens. You gain courage to share your passion, and when you do that, folks follow.
–Organizational theorist Jerry Poras.1
About the Author
Emilie Rose Jones
Emilie currently works in Marketing & Communications for a non-profit organization based in Toronto, Ontario. She completed her Masters of English Literature at UBC in 2021, where she focused on Indigenous and Canadian Literature. Emilie has a passion for writing and behavioural psychology and is always looking for opportunities to make knowledge more accessible.
