Charisma: Who Determines? Leader Or The Follower

Abstract

There is a certain degree of controversy concerning the charismatic leadership and the acceptance of the followers. Several studies have emphasised the fact that charismatic leader make an impact on the performance of the followers. There are studies which hypothesized the role of followers on determining a leader’s charisma.

This article foresees the self-esteem of followers and its impact on the leader’s charisma. A comprehensive construct is developed for charisma of the leaders, self-esteem, and self-consciousness of the followers.  Standard scales have been used to collect data, and statistical tools have been administered to arrive at the results.

A surprising finding is it is not the charisma of the leaders that influences the followers.  In contrast it is the self-esteem of the followers, its presence and absence that determine whether the leader is charismatic or not.

Charisma is not inborn; A charismatic leader is evolved from followers who possess self-esteem. It’s only the followers, who lack self-esteem, take the leader to be charismatic leader.