Charismatic power: concept, examples. Notable charismatic leaders

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Throughout the history of mankind, people with a strong will, as if gifted from above with some charisma, decided the fate of other people, countries, the world, established their own order and power, and many of them, even after death, still continue to influence on social and political life.

Types of power

Considering the concept of "power" as a general sociological category, it is customary to distinguish three types of management. This is legal (lawful-rational), traditional, charismatic power. In science, they are usually called ideal types. Such a division was once proposed by the famous German sociologist and historian M. Weber. It should be noted that charismatic leaders often have two sociological characteristics: they are mostly people from the periphery, and sometimes even citizens of another state, and in almost one hundred percent of cases they come to power not legally, but through usurpation or as a result of existing critical circumstances.

Charismatic power as an ideal type

Power is charismaticwas defined by Max Weber as one of the ideal types. In his research, he does not pay enough attention to how a particular leader becomes and remains a ruler, preferring to explore more the relationship between citizens and leaders, that is, the so-called social factors.

Thus, M. Weber determines that traditional power is based on the fact that citizens automatically agree to this system precisely because of its existence. This means that people emotionally and often contrary to the effectiveness of the system continue to maintain the existing order. On the contrary, lawful-rational government, precisely because of its effectiveness, maintains in citizens faith in the legitimacy of government, which gives people conviction in the justice of such power.

Leader as the basis of charismatic power

Charismatic power is based solely on the leader's abilities, and it often doesn't matter if these qualities are real or imaginary. Weber in his works does not define what exactly is meant by this concept. With regard to a charismatic personality, he implies that this is a kind of leader with supernatural and superhuman qualities, or at least exceptional abilities and capabilities. Thus, religious figures fall under the concept of charismatics, but the question of whether these leaders had real power remains open. According to Weber, the main characteristic of charismatic power is the presence of an acute social crisis; in fact, the scientist does notconsiders that the popularity of the leader can arise without it.

Subsequent researchers have significantly expanded the scope of such a thing as "charisma". If initially this concept was associated exclusively with a certain “divine gift”, then already in the works that the recognized charismatic leaders themselves left behind, the explanation of this phenomenon is not limited to a supernatural manifestation. Points of view on this issue are extremely different. For example, Marxist determinism connects the appearance of such people with the will of a society that requires change, rejecting the role of the individual himself. And vice versa, such an ideal charismatic leader as French President Charles de Gaulle fully supports the theory of the exclusive role of the individual himself in this or that crisis period, which he directly writes about in his book “On the Edge of the Sword.”

Characteristic of this type of power

The set of distinctive properties as a characteristic of charismatic power is manifested in the following points:

Extremely personal character.
Ahistorical, that is, the leader often does not adhere to any stereotypes, rules and even laws that existed before.
Alienation of charismatic power from purely practical and everyday problems, in particular from the economy. Indiscriminate methods in economic problems - often the charismatic power prefers not to collect taxes, but to take funds, confiscate and expropriate them, trying to give these actions a legal look.

Signs

Signs of charismatic power will appear as follows:

Public sharing of ideas, future accomplishments and support of the leader, followers connect personal plans with the activities of the organization.
Optimism and a high degree of enthusiasm from the supporters, each of whom is actually trying to become a "lower order" charismatic leader.
The leader is central to any social relationship. Thus, it creates the feeling that the leader is everywhere and takes part in any social event.

Pros and cons of establishing charismatic power

Legitimacy, that is, the consent of citizens to such a rule, arises as soon as a sufficiently large number of people are ready to become followers of their leader. There is no more personal form of government than the charismatic type of government. The power acquired by the leader surrounds him with a peculiar aura and helps him to believe more and more in his abilities, which, in turn, attracts an increasing number of adherents. But a charismatic leader would not be one if he did not feel the needs of people.

It is leadership power, charismatic in nature, that acquires serious significance in such conditions when a radical change or radical changes are needed in an environment that is not adapted for this, is inert due to rooted culture and traditions, and often has been in a state of stagnation. However, it is rather unstable indue to the fact that the leader needs to consistently demonstrate his strength and exclusivity, manage and simultaneously solve more and more new tasks, and with resounding success. Otherwise, even from a single failure, the leader in the eyes of followers may lose attractiveness, which means a loss of legitimacy.

In addition, this type of power has both positive aspects and disadvantages. The main negative parameter is that power, charismatic in its essence, is at the same time a usurpation, moreover, forcing the ruler himself to delve into and solve almost all everyday and even the smallest domestic issues of the state. However, if the leader is able to cope with these tasks, there is a serious positive effect associated with the fact that the government actually satisfies the majority of public interests.

A characteristic of a charismatic leader

At least a charismatic person must have a number of features that can be called basic:

energy, that is, the ability to "radiate" and "charge" the energy of the people around;
impressive colorful appearance that implies attractiveness, not beauty (often this type of leader has physical defects);
high degree of independence primarily from other people's opinions;
excellent oratorical skills;
absolute and unwavering confidence in yourself and your own actions.

Examplescharismatic leaders

Charismatic leaders were originally characterized by Max Weber as religious personalities, but capable of changing the social life of society. There is no doubt that both Jesus Christ and the Prophet Muhammad were charismatic persons who still influence the historical process. But being a charismatic person and being a charismatic leader are two very different things. In the future, the sociologist George Barnes slightly corrected the concept, and at the moment for those whom we used to call charismatic leaders, a different definition is more appropriate, namely, “heroic leader.”

Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Lenin and Stalin, Hitler and de Gaulle were just such heroic personalities. These people, who have completely different abilities, are vivid examples of charismatics who have become heroic leaders in critical events. In this context, it is very difficult to call large manufacturing leaders such as Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie or Bill Gates as charismatic leaders, although they certainly have charisma. In total, we can add to this some classic examples of charismatic (heroic) leaders who in reality had minimal power, showing their influence more through the support of supporters - Jeanne d, Ark, Marshal Zhukov, Che Guevara. History knows many examples when power, charismatic and legitimate, generally ended in a complete defeat of both the leader himself and his ideas, and served as an instrument for the death of states and the reorganizationworld order. This is undoubtedly Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Mikhail Gorbachev.

Of the living charismatic leaders, only one person can be fully attributed to this concept without any reservations - Fidel Castro, who, undoubtedly, even after the resignation of power, is an extremely influential leader both among his own people and in the world social environment.