Charismatic Leadership is not the Answer
Abstract:
Charismatic leaders are able to get people to rally behind the leader’s vision and move them towards the goal that the leader has set forth. However, in the current world that we live in, we need leaders to go beyond this. We need leaders that can, in a sense, “pass on the genes”, raising more leaders like themselves. This paper explains why it is important for leaders to cross this boundary and become a “Super Leader” (Nadler & Tushman, 1995, p. 108).
Charismatic Leadership:
When we think about a charismatic leader, we picture a person who is able to get people to follow his or her dreams and visions, not by force, but because of the shared values and goals with which the followers can identify. These leaders have an aura around them that generates energy and excitement, creating a bond that makes the followers want to commit to the vision that the leader has set forth. Charismatic leaders are also confident in their ability to lead and succeed. “Charismatic leaders demonstrate empathy – the ability to listen and understand, and share the feelings of those in the organization. They express support for individuals. Perhaps most importantly, the charismatic leader tends to express his/her confidence in people’s ability to perform effectively and to meet challenges” (Nadler & Tushman, 1995).
As the economy and our workplace changes, so does the role of a leader. Even one generation ago, it was very common for a person to spend their entire career in one company. Companies like GM, Ford, IBM, Kodak, Boeing, and AT&T were the backbone of the economy and were very stable sources of employment. A charismatic leader would have worked great in this culture as they would not only provide the vision but also have enough time with the company to allow them to make sure that the visions were followed through to completion.
Times of Change:
The work situation in today’s fast paced world is quite different than even a few decades ago. The competition in today’s global economy is fierce. GM, Ford and Chrysler no longer enjoy the market share that they held back in the 1970’s and 80’s. Toyota just surpassed Chrysler and Ford, gaining 15% of the total U.S. market share, and is expected to surpass GM in the near future (Taylor, 2007).
Kodak, another U.S. born company, has also seen competition from Japanese counterparts like Nikon, Canon, and Fuji in its electronics, film, and print processing markets. Kodak has also suffered greatly because of the transition from film to digital negatives. Even though Kodak continues to manufacture consumer digital cameras, it has totally lost the market share of professional equipment.
We are also moving from a manufacturing based economy to service and informational economy. According the U.S. Department of Labor, “Service-providing industries will generate almost all of the employment gain from 2006 to 2016 and will provide more than three-quarters of all jobs in 2016” (Employment Projections: 2006-16 Summary, 2007). This shift in the job marketplace is making it easier for people to change employment. A knowledge worker, for example a software engineer, can easily change jobs (and even industries) without any downtime, as opposed to a factory worker who is trained to work on a car assembly line. It is not uncommon for a working professional to get a new job every five years. This “job hopping” is taking place not only at the worker level, but also with the leaders of the company.
The loss of a leader can be very tough, especially if the leader was charismatic. The same charisma that made the company shine could break the company when the leader leaves. “A strong, visible and energetic leader may spur different psychological response. Some individuals may become overly dependent upon the leader, and in some cases whole organizations become dependent. Everyone else stops initiating actions and waits for the leader to provide direction …” (Nadler & Tushman, 1995, p. 111).
Beyond charisma:
Today’s organizations need leaders need more than charismatic qualities. In order to continue the success of an organization, a leader needs to lead others to lead themselves (Manz & Sims, 1995, p. 213). Manz and Sims call this SuperLeadership. While a charismatic leader’s source of wisdom comes mostly from his visions, a SuperLeader draws his/her wisdom mostly from the followers. Followers’ response to a SuperLeader is stronger as it is based on commitment and ownership of the organizational direction. On the other hand, followers of a charismatic leader make emotional commitment to the leader’s vision, which can easily be broken (Manz & Sims, 1995, p. 215).
The theory that SuperLeadership works better than charismatic leadership is further confirmed by John C. Maxwell’s informal research on how people become leaders. The results of Maxwell’s survey during a leadership conference can be summarized in table 1 (Maxwell, 1998, p. 133):
By raising multiple leaders, an organization breaks free from its dependence on a single leader figure. Empowering employees in this manner allows even people in the lower organizational structure to operate beyond the phenomena, facts and data level in the scale of knowledge and work towards understanding the information and eventually gain wisdom (Gillette, 2002, p. 12).
Conclusion:
Both charismatic and SuperLeaders are able to drive the success of an organization. While charismatic leadership depends on the vision of a single person, SuperLeadership draws from the strength of the followers. In the long run, an organization with SuperLeaders stands a better chance of surviving the ups and downs in the market. Without the transfer of knowledge and leadership from a charismatic leader to his or her followers, this type of leader and is bound to disappoint the followers some day and eventually fail the organization
Bibliography
Employment Projections: 2006-16 Summary. (2007, 12 4). Retrieved March 1, 2008, from Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.nr0.htm
Gillette, J. E. (2002). A practical framework for understanding KM. In Knowledge Management Strategy and Technology (pp. 1-22). Boston and London: Arctech House.
Manz, C. C., & Sims, P. H. (1995). SuperLeadership: Beyond the Myth of Herioc Leadership. In T. J. Wren, Leader's Companion. Insight on Leadership Through the Ages (pp. 212-221). New York: The Free Press.
(1998). The Law of Reproduction. It Takes a Leader to Raise Up a Leader. In J. C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Follow Them and People Will Follow You (pp. 133-141). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Nadler, D. A., & Tushman, M. L. (1995). Beyond the Charismatic Leader: Leadership and Organizational Change. In T. J. Wren, The Leader's Companion. Insights on Leadership through the Ages (pp. 108-113). New York: The Free Press.
Taylor, A. (2007, March 7). Americas best car company. Retrieved March 1, 2008, from CNN Money: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/03/19/8402324/index.htm