The ethics of charismatic leadership: submission or liberation?

Abstract

Executive Overview Charismafic business leaders are often heralded as corporate heroes by orchestrating turnarounds, launching new enterprises, engaging in organizational renewal or change, and obtaining extraordinary performance from individuals. The effectiveness of these leaders may be interpreted by executives as an unqualified recommendation for such leadership in their organizations. However the risks involved in charismatic leadership are at least as large as the promises. What is missing from current discussions about charisma is consideration of its darker side. In this article we focus on a paradox that emerges whenever one discusses leaders such as Robert Campeau. Max DePree. Lee Iacocca. Ross Johnson. Ralph Larsen. and Michael Milken: why are some charismatic leaders destructive, while others are beneficial to followers, organizations, and even entire societies? Drawing on the results from an interview study as well as the popular management literature, we describe the qualities and values that differentiate ethical and unethical charismatic leaders. We also examine the impact ethical and unethical charismatic leaders have on followers and how organizations can develop ethical charismatic leaders. Article "Wanted: Corporate Leaders. Must have vision and ability to build corporate culture. Mere managers need not apply."'

Romance of leadership and management decision making

“…Many scholars have argued that the ethical component is essential for the functioning of transformational leadership (Bass, 1998;Bass & Steidlmeier, 1999;Howell & Avolio, 1992;Kanungo, 2001). Accordingly, influential and extraordinary leadership such as transformational and charismatic leadership is associated with trust, confidence, and social values.…”

Virtuous Leadership: A Theoretical Model and Research Agenda

“…Further, their fortitude gives these types of leaders the courage to face risks and work at overcoming obstacles in the pursuit of goals (Mendonca,200 I). We should caution, however, that as noted by previous authors (e.g., Bass and Steidlmeier, 1999;Howell and Avolio, 1992), not all leaders with charismatic appeal will have strong moral values, and indeed some may have motives leaning more toward personal power and self-aggrandizement, which we address in the following section.…”

Determination of the Most Charismatic Leader Using Analytic Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy TOPSIS: An Application in Turkey

“…Weber"s work provided the initiative for the development of new theories about charismatic leadership (Murphy, 1907, Bendix, 1967, Sashkin, 1988Howell andAvolio: 1992, Conger andKanungo, 1987;House, 1977;Burns, 1978;Katz and Kahn, 1978;Shamir et al, 1995). In these theories charismatic leadership was tackled within the contexts of the influence that a leader has over followers and leader-follower relationships (Yukl, 2010).…”