Leadership:
Understanding its Global Impact
Chapter 6:
Charismatic and transformational
leadership
Learning objectives
• Define charismatic leadership
• Understand the difference between
transformational and transactional
leadership
• Discuss the impact of ‘charismatic’
style leadership behaviour
• Describe breakthrough leadership
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Chapter contents
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Spotlight: Natasha Stott Despoja
Introduction
Charisma and charismatic leadership
Leader in action: President Obama
Transactional leadership
Transformational leadership
Breakthrough leadership
Summary
Case study: Dick Smith
Spotlight: Natasha Stott Despoja
• Touches on many aspects of
charismatic and transformational
leadership
• Leadership is possible at a very
early age
• Trying to change the status quo
can come at a high price
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Introduction
• Charisma has long been
associated with leadership
• Charismatic and transformational
leadership models move beyond
simply considering personality
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Charisma and charismatic
leadership
• A special quality of leaders whose
purpose, powers and
extraordinary determination
differentiate them from others
(Conger & Kanungo 1988)
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Charisma and charismatic
leadership (cont.)
• One who revels ‘a transcendent
mission or course of action that may
not be in itself appealing to the
potential followers, but which is acted
on because the followers believe their
leader is extraordinarily gifted’ (Weber
1947)
• The charismatic leader and his/her
followers are mutually dependent
(Kellerman 2009)
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The locus of charismatic
leadership
• Charismatic leaders … value and pursue
an interrelated set of images: they are
perceived as trustworthy, credible, morally
worthy, innovative, esteemed, and
powerful (Gardner & Avolio 1998)
• Followers must have a strong desire to
identify with the leader
• Nine charismatic effects (House 1977);
Jane A Halpert clustered these outcomes
into: referent power, expert power & job
involvement.
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Leader in action: Obama
• He remains composed. He radiates
assurance. He stays on message and
communicates with astounding verbal
fluency. He appears to be a genuinely
charismatic leader. Will he also turn out to
be a transformational one?
… they said this day would never come.
They said that this country was too
divided, too disillusioned to ever come
together around a common purpose. But
on this January night—at this defining
moment in history—you have done what
the cynics said we couldn’t do.
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Transactional leadership
• Burns 1978
• Leaders and followers in an
exchange relationship
• Very common; tends to be
transitory
• Ethical element
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Transformational leadership
• Burns 1978
• Power wielders v. leaders
• Serve to change the status quo
by:
– Appealing to followers’ values
– Reframing issues
– Operating at a higher level of moral
development than followers
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Qualities for bringing about
transformation
• Bass 1990
• Transformational leaders are:
– Charismatic
– Practice inspirational leadership
– Provide intellectual stimulation
– Demonstrate individualised
consideration
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Role of leader in transformation
• Dubrin, Dalglish & Miller 2006
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raises people’s awareness
helps people look beyond self-interest
helps people search for self-fulfilment
helps people understand need for
change
– invests managers with a sense of
urgency
– is committed to greatness
– adopts a long range, broad perspective
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Issues in transformational
and charismatic leadership
• Special relationship does not
happen by accident
• Does not develop overnight
• Prevalent in countries possessing
collectivist societies (Jung et al
1995)
• Rosener 1990 - men described
themselves in transactional terms;
women described themselves in
transformational terms
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Breakthrough leadership
• Sarros & Butchatsky 1996
• Four specific leader behaviours:
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Respect for others
Values clarification
Willingness to look, listen and learn
A systems approach
• Breakthrough leaders create a climate
within their organisations that
encourages individual and group
learning
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Differences between Aust. &
US perceptions of leadership
• Breakthrough leadership sits within a
body of writing about Australian
leadership
• There are significant differences
between Australian and American
perceptions of leadership (Parry &
Sarros 1996)
• Australian leaders are expected to
inspire high levels of performance but
must do so in a culturally appropriate
way (Ashkanasy & Falkus 1997)
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Summary
• What creates charisma?
• Jane A. Halpert clustered House’s
research into three dimensions
• Burns coined the terms transactional
and transformational leadership
• Bass identified behaviours that cause
leaders to be seen as transformational
• Breakthrough leadership can be seen
as Australia’s transformational model
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Case study: Dick Smith
• What do you think has contributed
to Dick Smith’s business success?
• Identify the attributes that
contribute to Dick Smith’s
charisma.
• Is Dick Smith a transformational
leader? Explain your answer.
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