Jay A. Conger

Charismatic Leadership in Organizations

PART ONE: THEORY DEVELOPMENT Evolution of the Field A Model of Charismatic Leadership Charismatic Leadership Measurement and Empirical Validity PART TWO: COMPONENTS OF CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP The Leaders Search for Opportunity Aligning The Organization through Vision Implementing the Vision PART THREE: REMAINING CHALLENGES The Shadow Side of Charisma Looking to the Future

Charismatic and transformational leadership in organizations: An insider's perspective on these developing streams of research

Abstract Over the last decade and a half, the topic areas of charismatic and transformational leadership in organizational settings have undergone a significant evolution in terms of both theory development and empirical investigations. As a result, our knowledge about these leadership forms has deepened, and there are several dominant theories that are now established paradigms in the leadership field. At the same time, despite advances, there are numerous dimensions of these leadership forms about which we still know very little. Given this moment in the fields evolution, it is only appropriate that we take stock of where we have been and where we need to go into the future. We therefore provide an overview of the evolution of charismatic and transformational leadership in organizations. We examine progress along the following dimensions: 1) leader behaviors and their effects; 2) follower dispositions and dependency dynamics; 3) contextual factors; 4) institutionalization and succession forces; and 5) the liabilities of charismatic and transformational leaders.

Charismatic leadership : the elusive factor in organizational effectiveness

In this new book, Jay A. Conger reveals how the charismatic leaders qualities of creativity, inspiration, unconventionality, vision, and risk-taking can help bring about radical change in organizations damaged by long periods of inertia - and shows why we need charismatic leadership now more than ever before. Drawing on findings from organizational behavior, sociology, social psychology, political science, and his own research - as well as on illustrations from the careers of Steve Jobs, Lee Iacocca, Mary Kay, John DeLorean, Ross Perot, and others - the author dispels the myths about charisma and identifies the specific practices that set charismatic leadership apart to help show how and why these individuals succeed where others may fail.

The dark side of leadership

n I recent years, business leaders have gained great popularity: Lee Iaccoca and Steven Jobs, for example, have stepped into the limelight as agents of change and entrepreneurship. But though we tend to think of the positive outcomes associated with leaders, certain risks or liabilities are also entailed. The very behaviors that distinguish leaders from managers also have the potential to produce problematic or even disastrous outcomes for their organizations. For example, when a leader’s behaviors become exaggerated, lose touch with reality, or become vehicles for purely personal gain, they may harm the leader and the organization. How do leaders produce such negative outcomes -and why? Three particular skill areas can contribute to such problems. These include leaders’ strategic vision, their communications and impression-management skills, and their general management practices. We will examine each to discover its darker side.

Executive Education in the 21st Century

Executive education is changing. As we move into the 21st century, numerous forces are causing a transformation in not only its delivery but also its purpose. According to executives from 25 global firms, executive education will be more directly geared to making leadership and change management work. We describe shifts in six areas: learning needs, learning content, pedagogy, instructors, participant mixes, and organizational integrating mechanisms. Problem areas also are explored, particularly in the areas of program assessment and sponsorship. The concluding section describes what the authors feel must be the ultimate outcomes of these trends in terms of the transformation of executive education in the 21st century as a critical lever for facilitating strategic transitions.

Do You See What We See? The Complex Effects of Perceptual Distance Between Leaders and Teams

Previous distance-related theories and concepts (e.g., social distance) have failed to address the sometimes wide disparity in perceptions between leaders and the teams they lead. Drawing from the extensive literature on teams, leadership, and cognitive models of social information processing, the authors develop the concept of leader-team perceptual distance, defined as differences between a leader and a team in perceptions of the same social stimulus. The authors investigate the effects of perceptual distance on team performance, operationalizing the construct with 3 distinct foci: goal accomplishment, constructive conflict, and decision-making autonomy. Analyzing leader, member, and customer survey responses for a large sample of teams, the authors demonstrate that perceptual distance between a leader and a team regarding goal accomplishment and constructive conflict have a nonlinear relationship with team performance. Greater perceptual differences are associated with decreases in team performance. Moreover, this effect is strongest when a teams perceptions are more positive than the leaders are (as opposed to the reverse). This pattern illustrates the pervasive effects that perceptions can have on team performance, highlighting the importance of developing awareness of perceptions in order to increase effectiveness. Implications for theory and practice are delineated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Action learning and multi-rater feedback as leadership development interventions: Popular but poorly deployed

Action learning and multi-rater feedback are today among the most widely used interventions for leadership development. Despite their popularity, the authors believe that both have been poorly deployed. For example, while grounded in real company issues, action-learning formats often fail to provide the multiple learning experiences necessary to develop complex knowledge. Inadequate opportunities to reflect on learning, poor facilitation and a failure to follow up on project outcomes seriously hamper this interventions potential to develop leadership talent. Similar shortcomings apply to the deployment of multi-rater feedback. For example, when its use is stretched and different purposes, such as performance measurement, are coupled with it, or when its quantitative aspects are emphasised and the qualitative ones neglected, or when it is conceptualised as a single event rather than as an enduring system, the actual capabilities of multi-rater feedback are limited. Both interventions require far more attention and thoughtful application if they are to realise their potential to develop leadership talent.

Max Weber's conceptualization of charismatic authority: Its influence on organizational research

Abstract Max Webers conceptualization of charismatic authority as a force for change has had a profound influence on the ideas and research of social scientists for several decades. The article explores the impact of Webers conceptualization upon one particular group of researchers—the organizational behaviorists. Starting in the 1970s, they began to formulate theoretical models of charismatic leadership in organizational settings and undertook empirical investigations. Similarly to Weber, they saw charismatic leadership as a force for change in organizations. This article examines Webers conceptualization of charisma as a force for transformation; explores the extent of his impact on organizational research of the 1980s and 1990s; and draws attention to neglected areas of his theory that have important implications for future research.

Training leaders for the twenty-first century

Abstract As we prepare to enter the twenty-first century, there are two forces whose accelerating pace will alter fundamentally how organizations will be effectively led. They are: (1) dramatically heightened competitive pressures and (2) significant changes in the backgrounds and needs of employees. This article examines the critical competencies that will be required by the next generation of corporate leaders to successfully address these challenges. It proposes approaches as to how we might train and develop these.

Charisma: Exploring New Dimensions of Leadership Behaviour

The paper explores charismatic leadership as a new dimension. A three stage model to understand the charismatic leaders influence process in organisations is proposed. Stage 1 is that of evaluation of status quo, Stage 2 that of formulation of organisational goals, and Stage 3 is the means of achieving these goals. In all stages, the essential and distinctive characteristics of this leadership is articulated. The conclusion is that the mystique of charisma need to be unveiled in order to understand how leadership operates in organisations.