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The ethics of charismatic leadership: submission or liberation?
Abstract
Executive Overview Charismatic business leaders are often heralded as corporate heroes by orchestrating turnarounds, launching new enterprises, engaging in organizational renewal or change, and obtaining extraordinary performance from individuals. The effectiveness of these leaders may be interpreted by executives as an unqualified recommendation for such leadership in their organizations. However the risks involved in charismatic leadership are at least as large as the promises. What is missing from current discussions about charisma is consideration of its darker side. In this article we focus on a paradox that emerges whenever one discusses leaders such as Robert Campeau, Max DePree, Lee Iacocca, Ross Johnson, Ralph Larsen, and Michael Milken: why are some charismatic leaders destructive, while others are beneficial to followers, organizations, and even entire societies? Drawing on the results from an interview study as well as the popular management literature, we describe the qualities and values that differentiate ethical and unethical charismatic leaders. We also examine the impact ethical and unethical charismatic leaders have on followers and how organizations can develop ethical charismatic leaders.
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Cited by
Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing
Brown, M. E., Treviño, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2005) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2005.03.002 · Cited by 5,435
Ethical leadership: A review and future directions
Brown, M. E., & Treviño, L. K. (2006) · The Leadership Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.004 · Cited by 4,029
Treviño, L. K., Brown, M., & Hartman, L. P. (2003) · Human Relations · doi:10.1177/0018726703056001448 · Cited by 1,372
Wang, G., Oh, I.-S., Courtright, S. H., & Colbert, A. E. (2011) · Group & Organization Management · doi:10.1177/1059601111401017 · Cited by 1,315
The toxic triangle: destructive leaders, susceptible followers, and conducive environments.
Padilla, A., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2007) · The Leadership Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.03.001 · Cited by 1,188
Metadata
- Authors
- Howell, J. M., & Avolio, B. J.
- Venue
- Academy of Management Perspectives
- Publisher
- Academy of Management
- Published
- 1992-05
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 43-54
- ISSN
- 1558-9080 (ISSN-L)
- 1943-4529
- OpenAlex
- W2104634957
- Cited by
- 590
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 28.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- Howell, J. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1992). The ethics of charismatic leadership: submission or liberation? Academy of Management Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.1992.4274395
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