CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Conger and Kanungo (1998) define organizational leadership as a behavioral process that can be observed and therefore learned. According to the authors, Charismatic Leadership has three stages. Although the process of charismatic leadership is not said to be linear, Conger and Kanungo report that it is nonetheless effectively described in three stages. In this regard, the authors note that in the first stage, the charismatic leader is a leader who is sensitive to environmental constraints and able to identify opportunities.
According to Conger and Kanungo (1998), in the second stage, the charismatic leader excels in articulating a vision and in using impression-management skills to motive followers to achieve it. In the third stage, the charismatic leader is said to excel in the application of innovative and unconventional approaches, all tailored to achieve the vision originally formulated and articulated. However, throughout the process, what marks the charismatic leader most strongly is the ability to use personal power to influence others to achieve the stated objectives and goals.
The purpose of the review of literature presented here is to briefly examine the current organizational research on charismatic leadership. Specifically, the review examines studies of the nature of charismatic leadership, its effectiveness and limitations, and ethical concerns.
Organizational Research on Charismatic Leadership
Gibson, Hannan and Blackwell (1998) conducted a review of the existing research on charismatic leadership, examining and discussing several empirical and theoretical articles. In addition, they conducted a survey of both faculty and graduate students at two major universities asking questions about both the nature of charismatic leaders at their institutions and the parameters within which such leaders were effective. Based on their review of this research and...