Max Weber's Idea Of Charismatic Leadership

Charismatic Leadership

Author Name

University name

The word "charisma" comes from the Greek language (χάρισμα (khárisma)) and means “favor freely given.” It goes back to the word “Graces” or “Charites” (Χάριτες), which in Greek mythology was the name for three goddesses of beauty and grace. Even in ancient Greece people with charismatic qualities, were considered as favored by the gods who helped their chosen ones to achieve extraordinary success.

Charisma is the magnetic force emitted by the person, the art of fascinating the others. This explains why the opinions of people on about who has charisma and who has not are so different. The people who bring a feeling of comfort with them and whose words inspire everyone around

In his works, he argued, “charisma is an ascribed feature” (Winkler, 2010), which means that if the admirers of a leader describe him or her as charismatic, it is most likely that he or she would be a charismatic leader. Moreover, this fact does not depend on whether the leader actually possesses any extraordinary traits. (p. 32) Weber used the term “charisma” to describe the influence mechanism, based on the perception and evaluation of the leader by the followers and supporters as a person who has unique properties and qualities. According to Weber, charisma is manifested in different periods of social and socio-political crisis and decline. In such situations, a leader with outstanding personal characteristics offers a radical and effective resolution of the crisis. A leader attracts followers and supporters who believe in beliefs proposed by the leader and regard him/her as a stable figure – a father, a hero, a prophet or a savior. In his works, he argued that charisma is a complex of the person’s qualities recognized as extraordinary, thanks to which the person is assessed as gifted with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specific special powers and qualities which are not available to

Imitate them in intonation and manner of speaking, to copy the behavior, clothes, and habits.

Artificial charisma is a performance for this appreciative audience. This is a theater with a storyline, which was built by professionals for a particular purpose. When the goal is reached, artificial charisma evaporates like a cloud because you cannot always pretend to be the one you are not.

However, while according to different authors, “It’s true that no amount of training or practice will turn you into Churchill or Martin Luther King Jr.”, the charismatic training “can make you more charismatic in the eyes of your followers, and that will invariably make you a more effective leader.” (Antonakis, Fenley, & Liechti, 2012)

Conclusion

If you add up all the basic properties of charisma, the main factors are the following: the ability of the leader to stand out from the crowd, emphasizing its uniqueness, unity of the followers, and finally, to the loyalty of the masses to the leader. Despite the exclusivity of the leader and his difference from the masses, they must have something in common that unites them: it may be a common enemy, a common