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Who Are the Spellbinders? Identifying Personal Attributes of Charismatic Leaders

February 28, 2007

"The purpose of the present study is to identify a comprehensive set of personal attributes among charismatic leaders in terms of their values, needs, self-presentation skills, and self-identity and examine how they influence followers' reaction toward their leaders. Specifically, we chose five personal attributes (i.e. self monitoring, self actualization, motive to attain social power, self-enhancement, and openness to change) based on theoretical frameworks proposed by House (1977) and conger and Kanungo (1998).

House's (1997) model of the charismatic leadership provided the general theoretical framework for this study. This model proposes that the leader, who possesses an unusually high level of vibrant personal attributes (e.g., dominance, self-confidence, need for influence), tends to articulate an exciting vision and engage in personal image-building that produces favorable perceptions of himself/herself on the part of followers. Followers' outcomes include loyalty to and trust in the leader, obedience to the leader, emulation of the leader's value system by followers, arousal of followers' needs and acceptance of challenging goals, and enhanced self-esteem and performance expectations of followers. The present study focuses on examining the relationship between the aforementioned five personal attributes of leaders and ratings of charismatic leadership. We also examined the relationship between ratings of charismatic leadership and four outcomes for followers [i.e., extra effort, self-actualization, collectivistic work orientation, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)] and managerial performance.

Hypothesis 1: Managers who are rated high on charismatic leadership will report a higher level of self-monitoring than managers who are rated low on charismatic leadership.

Hypothesis 2: Managers who are rated high on charismatic leadership will report a higher level of self-actualization than managers who are rated low on charismatic leadership.

Hypothesis 3: Managers who are rated high on charismatic leadership will report a higher level of need for social power than managers who are rated low on charismatic leadership.

Hypothesis 4: Managers who are rated high on charismatic leadership will value self-enhancement to a greater extent than managers who are rated low on charismatic leadership.

Hypothesis 5: Managers who are rated high on charismatic leadership will value openness to change to a greater extent than managers who are rated low on charismatic leadership.

Hypothesis 6: Managers who are rated high on charismatic leadership will be associated with followers who report higher levels of (a) extra effort, (b) self-actualization, (c) collectivistic work orientation, and (d) OCB than followers associated with managers who are rated low on charismatic leadership.

Hypothesis 7: Managers who are rated high on charismatic leadership will outperform managers who are rated low on charismatic leadership.

Three hundred adult students enrolled in an offsite Executive Master of Business Administration in a large public university in the Northeast were invited to participate in this study for course credit. The final sample consisted of 218 individuals (leaders) holding managerial positions, their 945 respective subordinates (followers) and 218 superiors. Of the 300 individuals, 61 did not participate because they did not hold managerial positions at the time of this study, and data from the remaining 21 individuals were not included in the study because their surveys were unusable as a result of missing data.

Participants were full-time corporate employees from various management-levels ranging from first-line to executive management within five organizations from the following technology-dependent industries. The leaders ranged in age from 21 to 65, with the average age being 31. They had worked, on average, three years in their current position and had a job range of job tenure of one to 10 years. They had worked, on average, eight years for their current organization. Sixty-three percent of the managers were male, and the majority (78%) were white.

Data were collected through an Internet-based survey, which was introduced to leaders in class, completed online outside of class, and submitted directly to the researchers by the second week of class. This survey assessed leaders' personal attributes and demographics. Leaders also identified 10 followers and their primary supervisor as potential raters. Five followers were randomly selected as invitee to participate in the study. An email was send to these followers asking them to help the leader complete his/her course requirements by participating in a 360-degree feedback assessment and completing an online survey by the sixth week of class.

Two months after the followers had submitted their surveys, an email was sent to the focal leaders' supervisor asking him/her to participate in the study by completing an online survey. This survey assessed superiors' ratings of leadership style and managerial performance of the focal leader.

Hypothesis 1 was supported. Consistent with hypothesis 2, the mean level of self-actualization was significantly higher among managers in the high charismatic leadership group. Managers rated high on charismatic leadership also reported a higher level of need for social power, thus supporting Hypothesis 3. Hypothesis 4 was supported. Hypothesis 5 was not supported. Support was found for Hypotheses 6a and 6d, but not for 6b and 6c. Hypothesis 7 was supported.

The primary purpose of this study was to identify several important personal attributes of charismatic leaders. This study begins to address gaps in the leadership literature by identifying several personal attributes of charismatic leadership. The important question for the survival of organizations in the 21st century is 'who are the spellbinders?' (Jung & Sosik, 2006, p. 12-26)."

Reference: Jung, D, & Sosik, J.J., (2006). Who Are the Spellbinders? Identifying Personal Attributes of Charismatic Leaders. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, Vol. 12, No. 4.

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Created: 2007-04-18, Updated: 2008-12-29