The Motivational Effects of Charismatic Leadership: A Self-Concept Based Theory1
Leadership Now: Reflections on the Legacy of Boas Shamir
ISBN: 978-1-78743-201-7, eISBN: 978-1-78743-200-0
Publication date: 5 October 2018
Abstract
The empirical literature on charismatic or transformational leadership demonstrates that such leadership has profound effects on followers. However, while several versions of charismatic leadership theory predict such effects, none of them explains the process by which these effects are achieved. In this paper we seek to advance leadership theory by addressing this fundamental problem. We offer a self-concept based motivational theory to explain the process by which charismatic leader behaviors cause profound transformational effects on followers. The theory presents the argument that charismatic leadership has its effects by strongly engaging followers’ self-concepts in the interest of the mission articulated by the leader. We derive from this theory testable propositions about (a) the behavior of charismatic leaders and their effects on followers, (b) the role of followers’ values and orientations in the charismatic relationship, and (c) some of the organizational conditions that favor the emergence and effectiveness of charismatic leaders.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
This paper was written while the first two authors were Visiting Professors at Suffolk University. The authors are indebted to Jane M. Howell, Susan Jackson, Raanan Lipshitz, Phillip Podsakoff, and Jitendra Singh for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper.
Citation
Shamir, B., House, R.J. and Arthur, M.B. (2018), "The Motivational Effects of Charismatic Leadership: A Self-Concept Based Theory
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018 Emerald Publishing Limited