Let’s Move Beyond Our Love Affair with Charismatic Leadership
Pat McLagan
Leading complex business transformations and culture shifts in our tech-enhanced, information-filled, networked world. Author, Speaker, Coach.
A mainstream view of leadership is that the best leaders (people with institutional power) have lots of charisma. ?They use it to instill vision, values, and culture and to make sure people are aligned, committed, and acculturated. These charismatic leaders are the heroes, even rock stars, of many leadership books.?
But is charisma all it’s touted to be?? An interesting, book on leadership encourages us to wake up from the charisma trance.? I’d like to share some of its insights. The book is The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership: A Critical Perspective, by Dr. Dennis Tourish.? It exposes the “cult-leader” dark side of charismatic leadership, raising again the question, “What kind of leaders do we need today?”
This is not a book that bashes formal leaders. Rather, Tourish accepts that it is an advantage when people in leadership roles are able to create a motivating atmosphere. But he warns about what lurks in the shadows when an institution is dominated by an ethos of heroic leadership. This applies, of course to government as well as business – to any group whose leaders have position power.
His chilling conclusion? The charismatic leader is often a kind of cult leader: ?worshipped as a hero, dominating with a compelling vision, relating through manipulation and benevolence, shaping behavior with rewards and punishment, managing thought through indoctrination rituals and a strong culture, and personally benefiting from an imbalance of power.
He warns us about the "high potential for abuse" when both leaders and followers buy into the charismatic view -- and he reminds us that we are especially vulnerable to this kind of leader-follower relationship during times of stress and uncertainty
He offers practical advice that we know but often don’t take:
I would add that followers must learn more about how to recognize and avoid being hooked by charismatic leaders.
Years ago, a book, If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him (by Sheldon B Kopp) reminded us about the dark side of turning our power over to others.? Every so often, it seems, we need a reminder!
Don’t put any leader on a pedestal. If you are a leader, be careful with your use of your power and charisma.
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Learn more in my just released book, The Shadow Side of Leadership: Lessons for Leaders (and Their Supporters) ?It’s a short fictional story where you take a journey with a hero and his guide, meeting leaders who landed in the Leadership Inferno because they failed to use, misused, and abused their institutional power.
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I help individuals and organizations become lifelong learners| Keynote Speaker, Executive Coach, Strategic Learning consultant, |Purpose |Masterminds| Learning experiences |Founder of I?igo Learning
5 个月I love your reflection , it reminded of the many leaders I put in a pedestal, and they fall through with cult behaviors. I wonder how can we find balance , when we are a leader not to fall on the trap and us followers not to automatically idolize them .
Author | Speaker | Leader of the Courageous Follower & Intelligent Disobedience Movements.
5 个月Great perspective Wise words. Hugely relevant and important