Charismatic leadership and follower effects

Abstract

On the basis of the current theories of charismatic leadership, several possible follower effects were identified. It is hypothesized that followers of charismatic leaders could be distinguished by their greater reverence, trust, and satisfaction with their leader and by a heightened sense of collective identity, perceived group task performance, and feelings of empowerment. Using the Conger–Kanungo charismatic leadership scale and measures of the hypothesized follower effects, an empirical study was conducted on a sample of 252 managers using structural equation modelling. The results show a strong relationship between follower reverence and charismatic leadership. Follower trust and satisfaction, however, are mediated through leader reverence. Followers' sense of collective identity and perceived group task performance are affected by charismatic leadership. Feelings of empowerment are mediated through the followers' sense of collective identity and perceived group task performance. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Trust and Stakeholder Theory: Trustworthiness in the Organisation–Stakeholder Relationship

“…Trust is seen as the willingness of individuals to increase their vulnerability to the actions of others whose behavior they cannot control (Hosmer, 1995). Trust is often not rational; sometimes people trust because they feel positively inclined toward another, as noted in studies of physical attractiveness (Mulford et al, 1998) or charismatic personalities (Conger et al, 2000). Thus, trust occurs because an emotional bond is created between people, enabling them to move beyond rational prediction to take a ''leap of faith'' that trust will be honored.…”

Value Congruence and Charismatic Leadership in CEO–Top Manager Relationships: An Empirical Investigation

“…Thus, for example, while charismatic leaders in general may share the characteristic of using analogy, metaphor, and stories in order to articulate their visions, it is the fact that these techniques emotionally stimulate followers and increase follower identification with the leader that is critical to the emergence of charismatic leadership. In this view, ''leadership is jointly established by leaders and followers'' (Castro et al, 2008(Castro et al, , p. 1842): charisma does not reside in leaders alone, but rather in the relationships a leader possesses with particular followers (Howell and Shamir, 2005;Klein and House, 1995), and the charismatic relationship, rather than being determined by any given set of characteristics of the leader, is influenced by followers' perceptions of the leader (Campbell et al, 2008;Conger et al, 2000;Howell and Shamir, 2005;Hughes et al, 1999;Kark and Shamir, 2003;Willner, 1984). Yukl (1999) states that the most useful definition of charisma is in terms of attributions of charisma to a leader by followers; this position is also evident in the model of charisma presented by Conger and Kanungo (1987).…”

“…In these studies, charismatic leadership has been shown to be associated with a wide variety of positive outcomes ranging from leader effectiveness (DeGroot et al, 2000;Judge and Piccolo, 2004) to follower job satisfaction and performance (Conger et al, 2000;Judge and Piccolo, 2004;Rowold and Heinitz, 2007) to group and organizational performance (Judge and Piccolo, 2004;Waldman et al, 2004). However, although there is a substantial amount of research examining consequences of charismatic leadership, there has been less systematic study of its antecedents (Campbell et al, 2008).…”

Duties Owed to Organizational Citizens – Ethical Insights for Today’s Leader

“…Leaders who follow an ethical model that reflects an ethic of religious injunctions may take that position based upon a commitment to a high ideal or superordinate goal that is characteristic of a charismatic leader (Conger et al, 2000). Focusing organization members on the greater needs of society, the noble goals of the organization, and service to humanity provides a special appeal to many employees and creates high levels of personal commitment that typifies individuals with high OCB (Graham and Van Dyne, 2006).…”