Charisma & Leadership
Charisma, a term often associated with leadership has been classified into five types: socialized charismatics, personalized charismatics, officeholder charismatics, personal charismatics, and divine charismatics.
Socialized Charismatics
Socialized charismatics are leaders who restrain themselves from using power to benefit special interest groups or themselves personally. These types of leaders work hard to ensure that their values align with the people and organizations they lead. Studies show that followers of socialized charismatics are autonomous, empowered, and responsible.
Personalized Charismatics
Personalized charismatics are those who serve in leadership roles primarily for their own interests and exercise few controls on their use of power. These individuals are opposite of the socialized charismatics. Followers of personalized charismatics are typically submissive, obedient, and dependent.
Officeholder Charismatics
The Officeholder Charismatic is the leader whose public persona is more about the office they hold rather than anything based on the things they say and do. A CEO of a major corporation who commands the attention of thousands but then fades from the public memory once they leave their position could be considered an officeholder charismatic.
Personal Charismatics
Personal Charismatics are those who are held in top regard because of the faith others put in them. Examples of people who are personal charismatics are those who have held the highest positions in business, politics, or entertainment and are then in high demand on the speaker circuit after they move on from the roles that made them famous.
Divine Charismatics
Historically important, were the divine charismatics. Originally a theological idea, a divine charismatic was someone who was considered to possess the power of divine grace. Subjects living under the rule of kings and queens in earlier eras believed that their monarchs were divine charismatics.
Elaine Allan, BA, MBA
Technology & Business Blogger
Vancouver, Canada