People who seem to exert power solely through the shone of their personality are often considered to be charismatic. This is irrefutable since charisma by definition is “a special personality characteristic that gives a person superhuman or exceptional powers” (Northouse, 2022, p.188). Being charismatic is not being a leader, however. They can be, but it’s not a forgone conclusion. Leaders who are charismatic are often regarded as being great leaders but that is a misapplied adjective. The correct descriptor should be memorable. Being charismatic doesn’t mean being great. It simply means being able to be more inspirational and/or a strong motivator.
Transformational leadership is often confused with charismatic leadership but they are vastly different in many ways. One min area of distinction is in the leader him/herself. A charismatic leader tends to be more concerned with the self instead of the other. A transformational leader’s main concern is to motivate and help followers reach their full potential, which in turn will raise the leader’s potential as well (Northouse, 2022). Another difference lies in the fact that transformational leadership can be taught and learned. All four factors of transformational leadership, idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration are observed behaviors, and not necessarily trait driven. Idealized influence stems from the trust that followers place on the leader, which the leader has earned by not only providing a vision and sense of mission but also having strong standards of moral and ethical conduct. Followers can count on them to always do the right thing. This is learnable behavior.
Inspirational motivation is the emotional appeal to followers to become committed to a shared vision and become something greater as a group than they would be able to achieve by themselves. Leaders can achieve this by using encouraging words and inspirational symbols. The key would be to be authentic and energetic, otherwise the followers will dismiss this as inauthentic and false. Intellectual stimulation is simply encouraging the followers to be creative and to challenge not only the organization to do better but to challenge themselves to take more risks and be innovative. This learnable behavior is simply learning to be okay with possible setbacks and being courageous and staying committed in encouraging them. People are only afraid to fail when they think that there are adverse consequences for it. If the leader fosters an environment where failures are seen as learnable opportunities, followers will be more willing to think outside the box.
Perhaps the most important distinction between the two types of leadership is in the fourth factor of transformational leadership. Individualized consideration is the factor that has leaders listen to their followers’ needs (2022, p. 193). Leaders can act as coaches and delegate authority and can individualized the type of leadership each follower needs at a precise moment in time. This type of leader is therefore more selfless in creating a team environment.
Charismatic leadership tends to be more centered on the individual leader than follower. It is not a process by which a back and forth growth opportunity exists. Charismatic leadership also tends to be more personality driven than behavior focused. These types of leaders are more dominant, have a strong desire to influence others, are self-confident, and have strong personal moral values. It is important to note that order for charisma “to be present, it must be recognized by (the) followers” (Bendix, 1967, p. 344). Northouse agrees charismatic leader followers “trust in the leader’s ideology . . . unquestioning acceptance of the leader. . . (and) obedience” Northouse, 2022, p. 189).
The best way to state the differences is to say that a transformational leader is and wants to be a leader while a charismatic person is not and needs to be a leader.
References
Bendix, R. (1967). Reflections on Charismatic Leadership. Asian Survey, 7(6), 341–352. https://doi.org/10.2307/2642609
Northouse, P. G. (2022). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed.). SAGE.