Excerpted from
The ethics of charismatic leadership by Jane M. Howell and Bruce J. Avolio,
Academy of Management Executives,
1992,
Vol. 6 No.2;
and The Charismatic Leader as Narcissist by Daniel Sankowsky,
Organizational
Dynamics, Spring 1995, Vol. 23, No. 4
(See also Conger
and Kanungo's
Charismatic Leadership: The Elusive Factor in Organizational
Effectiveness)
According to prevailing theories, followers
regard the charismatic leader as one or all of the
following:
-
Omnipotent
(parent archetype);
a leader who will nurture and guide them.
-
Mystical (in touch with "higher truths");
a leader who
knows the way and knows the answers.
-
Heroic
(perhaps derived from past achievements); a leader who
can move mountains,
-
Value-driven
(concerned with the collective and able to empower it); a leader who's pure in spirit.
Today's environment emphasizes organizational
learning and follower empowerment – conditions
that promote mutual respect and dialogue.
However, even in this environment leaders can,
sometimes unwittingly, enact subtle abuses.
Generally included in the typical definition of
power are the notions of dependency and control:
a leader's ability to determine followers'
behavior stems at least in part from the
followers' dependency on the leader. This, in
turn, is based on leaders' control over the
various aspects of organizational life affecting
followers or perceived as needed by followers,
such as material resources and organizational
advancement.
Symbolic status refers to a
psychological phenomenon: the tendency for followers to tacitly regard leaders as parent
figures, a tendency that becomes pronounced in the presence of charismatic leaders. Even
unwitting abuse of this power can significantly undermine the followers' psychological
well-being. Symbolic status has its origins in the concept of transference, which
occurs when clients symbolize their therapists as parents.
Various management theorists suggest that
transference inheres in the leader-follower relationship as well. This means there is
a predisposition for followers to mentally construct their relationship with leaders on
child-parent terms. Followers tend to be highly motivated to gain the leader's personal
approval and are highly affected by the leader's actions and beliefs. The motivation and
vulnerability described go beyond the present-based normal reactions to a
leader. The power of symbolic status, rooted in unconscious drives, enhances a
leader's potential to fundamentally alter followers' perceptions, emotions, and thoughts.
Thus there are ways that leaders, even those who are otherwise well-intentioned, may abuse
their power.
The management function associated with such
control is communication. The attendant responsibility is the free exchange of clear
and unbiased information and the granting of respect for the followers' views. The
power of symbolic status is particularly susceptible to inadvertent abuse, because so much
of what underlies it is tacit. For example, leaders may avoid their basic responsibility to
promote professional development in followers, perhaps by denying a
fair validation of followers' views, or denying them access to appropriate information,
or failing to provide clear and unbiased information and feedback. Leaders must be
responsible for taking the time and effort to assist followers' development. But more
important, they should critically examine their own behaviors, especially in the light
of negative signals from followers, investigating rather than blaming.
Charismatic leaders can achieve heroic feats
(turn around ailing corporations, revitalize aging bureaucracies, or launch new
enterprises) by:
-
powerfully communicating a compelling vision of the future,
-
passionately believing in their vision,
-
relentlessly promoting their beliefs with boundless energy,
-
propounding creative ideas,
-
inspiring extraordinary performance in followers by:
(a)
expressing confidence in followers' abilities to achieve high standards, and
(b) building
followers' trust, faith, and belief in the leader.
The term
charisma is value-neutral: it
doesn't distinguish between good/moral and evil/immoral charismatic leadership.
Charisma can lead to blind fanaticism in the service of megalomaniacs and dangerous
values, or to heroic self-sacrifice in the service of a beneficial cause. Ethical charismatics develop creative, critical thinking in their followers, provide
developmental opportunities, welcome positive and negative feedback, recognize the contributions
of others, share information with followers, and have moral standards that emphasize
collective interests of the group, organization, or society. The following key behaviors
and moral standards further differentiate ethical from unethical charismatic leaders:
Unethical
Charismatic Leader
– Uses power only for personal
gain or impact; promotes own personal vision; censures critical or opposing views; demands
that own decisions be accepted without question; one-way communication; insensitive to
followers' needs; relies on convenient external moral standards to satisfy self-interests.
Ethical
Charismatic Leader
–
Uses power to serve others;
aligns vision with followers' needs and aspirations;
considers
and learns from criticism; stimulates followers to think independently
and to question the leader's view;
uses open, two-way communication;
coaches, develops, and supports followers; shares recognition with others; relies
on internal moral standards to satisfy organizational and societal interests.
The double-edged sword of charismatic
leadership is readily seen in the impact on followers. Ethical charismatic leaders convert
followers into leaders. By expressing confidence in followers' abilities
to accomplish collective goals and encouraging them to think on their own and question
established ways of doing things, they create followers who are more capable of leading
themselves. Followers feel independent, confident, powerful, and capable. They eventually
take responsibility for their own actions, gain rewards through self-reinforcement and
–
like their leader
– establish a set of internal standards to guide their actions and
behavior.
