What might the student do to enchance this perception of being charismatic?

            Being charismatic leader as students consider possibilities as well as limitations to the development of charismatic leadership abilities. Students efficacy beliefs regarding their own charismatic potential may be enhanced by a description of an experiment conducted by Howell and Frost (1989), who succeeded in scripting undergraduate business students to portray charisma. Students in this study were taught to project a powerful, confident, and engaging persona. In addition, students were successfully taught to exhibit nonverbal behaviors that projected the energy associated with charisma. The following exercise encourages students to consider the extent to which charisma can be developed, and possibly helps them enhance their own charisma.

So, What is a Charismatic Leader? Charismatic leaders are essentially very skilled communicators individuals who are both verbally eloquent, but also able to communicate to followers on a deep, emotional level. They are able to articulate a compelling or captivating vision, and are able to arouse strong emotions in followers. Charisma is really a process an interaction between the qualities of the charismatic leader, the followers and their needs and identification with the leader, and the situation that calls out for a charismatic leader, such as a need for change or a crisis. But when it comes to the charismatic qualities of leaders, the emphasis is on how they communicate to followers and whether they are able to gain followers trust, and influence and persuade them to follow.

Charisma is a trait often associated with leaders and the world is full of examples of people being described as charismatic leaders. The term charismatic comes from the ancient Greek word “charis”, which means “grace”, kindness and life. Charismatic people are considered as graceful and virtuous. The idea of using one’s charisma and influence in order to lead is not a new way of looking at leadership, although the theories around it are rather recent. To communicate the vision to subordinates, charismatic leaders need to showcase high levels of self-confidence, dominance, influence and strong conviction. Furthermore, certain situational and organization factors can help boost the leadership’s appearance. The characteristic of charismatic leader can been seen through the communication, maturity, compassion, substance, confidence, positive body language, listening skills, self monitoring, and self improvement. For the above characteristics of charismatic leadership to work efficiently, the behavior of the leader must be aligned with the assumptions. Charismatic leadership model emphasizes the behavioral assumptions as the key. Interestingly, charismatic leaders are not just interested or relying on showcasing the above qualities themselves, but rather they behave in a way that supports role-modeling behavior. Essentially this means charismatic leadership wants subordinates to adopt the behavior of the leader. Role-modeling has been shown by studies to have a strong effect on influencing other people. An authoritative figure can get subjects to administer pain to other people and people can adopt biased or racist attitudes from leaders. But naturally, role-modeling could be used for positive change and behavior as well. In a corporate environment, role-modeling could work as a method of improving employee motivation.         

Since charismatic leadership is linked with personal traits and the transformation of subordinates, the current conversation around the model often links it with transformational leadership theory.  yet there are certain important differences between the two. While charisma can improve the effectiveness of leadership, transformational leaders don’t necessarily have to be perceived as charismatic in order to rule efficiently. Furthermore, transformational leadership always has change at the heart of it, whereas charismatic leadership might not be interested in changing the operational structure of the organization. Transformational leadership is a style of leadership where a leader works with subordinates to identify needed change, creating a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and executing the change in tandem with committed members of a group. Transformational leadership serves to enhance the motivation, morale, and job performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms, these include connecting the follower's sense of identity and self to a project and to the collective identity of the organization; being a role model for followers in order to inspire them and to raise their interest in the project; challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers, allowing the leader to align followers with tasks that enhance their performance. Transformational leadership can be viewed as guidance that goes beyond charisma, given that two of the elements of transformational leadership involve charisma. First is Idealized influence, this is basically the capacity of the leader to be a moral and positive role model to their followers.  In addition, the transformational leader practices what he or she preaches and is always there in the trenches with the followers. In an organizational setting, the charismatic and transformational leader occasionally becomes the "face" of the organization. The second is Insprirational motivation, This is the other element of transformational leadership and charismatic leaders are renowned for it.  This is their capacity to motivate and inspire followers to execute at higher levels and to be totally dedicated to the cause or the organization. Transformational leadership involves the use of charisma; however, transformational leaders are well-known for leading groups and teams that perform excellently.  In addition, they are noted for their ability to identify and foster leadership capacity in the followers.  They also devise methods of assisting the organization or group to innovate and change.

Teams require effective leadership from leaders who must be able to project an inspiring and clear vision.  In an economic climate that is extremely challenging, it is that much more essential to keep the motivation and determination of team members on a high. Charismatic leaders are formed and shaped by their gallant deeds and they need to be associated with historical figures that exemplify their aspirations.  There should be specialized training for individuals who are aspiring to become charismatic leaders. Training for charismatic leadership aspirants should delve into the great ambitions and vivid imaginations of current exemplary charismatic leaders and those from the past. It is usually easy for students to provide examples of charismatic individuals. In addition, since many organizational behavior textbooks review various leadership theories, it is straightforward to associate charisma with effective leadership. However, when the attribution of charisma is considered in depth, it is less apparent to most students how one might put these theories into practice and to develop leadership skills in terms of reaching followers.