An Examination of the Effects of Charismatic Leadership on Follower Performance in Face-to-face and Virtual Settings

Search for this publication on Google Scholar
Ernst, B. (2020). An Examination of the Effects of Charismatic Leadership on Follower Performance in Face-to-face and Virtual Settings. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
Download PDF

Analytics

125 views ◎
62 downloads ⇓


Abstract

Charismatic leadership is a powerful, trainable set of skills. Charismatic leaders achieve their effect on followers through the use of stories, metaphors, emotional messaging, and nonverbal gestures (Antonakis, Bastardoz, Jacquart, & Shamir, 2016). Although many modern organizations rely heavily on technology-mediated communication, the power of charismatic leadership has not been fully examined in this context. Further, the field is lacking experimental research on charismatic leadership and behavioral outcomes, such as task performance. To address these limitations, I draw upon signaling theory to investigate how observable charismatic leadership tactics (CLTs) affect follower task and extra-role performance in a realistic setting. I conducted two experimental studies in which participants completed a task after receiving instruction from a charismatic or non-charismatic leader. CLTs were effective in increasing follower performance in a face-to-face setting (Study 1), but not in a virtual setting (Study 2). In order to explore potential theoretical explanations of the effects of CLTs, I also conducted a study in which participants viewed a video of a charismatic or non-charismatic leader and responded to survey items (Study 3). CLTs positively affected some perceptions of the leader (i.e., prototypicality, competence, and influencing ability). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Specifically, I explain how signaling theory can be applied to charismatic leadership, and how charisma can be trained in an organizational context.

Details
Author

Ernst, Brittany

Title

An Examination of the Effects of Charismatic Leadership on Follower Performance in Face-to-face and Virtual Settings

Physical Description

1 online resource (116 pages) : PDF

Date

2020

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

Charismatic leadership is a powerful, trainable set of skills. Charismatic leaders achieve their effect on followers through the use of stories, metaphors, emotional messaging, and nonverbal gestures (Antonakis, Bastardoz, Jacquart, & Shamir, 2016). Although many modern organizations rely heavily on technology-mediated communication, the power of charismatic leadership has not been fully examined in this context. Further, the field is lacking experimental research on charismatic leadership and behavioral outcomes, such as task performance. To address these limitations, I draw upon signaling theory to investigate how observable charismatic leadership tactics (CLTs) affect follower task and extra-role performance in a realistic setting. I conducted two experimental studies in which participants completed a task after receiving instruction from a charismatic or non-charismatic leader. CLTs were effective in increasing follower performance in a face-to-face setting (Study 1), but not in a virtual setting (Study 2). In order to explore potential theoretical explanations of the effects of CLTs, I also conducted a study in which participants viewed a video of a charismatic or non-charismatic leader and responded to survey items (Study 3). CLTs positively affected some perceptions of the leader (i.e., prototypicality, competence, and influencing ability). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Specifically, I explain how signaling theory can be applied to charismatic leadership, and how charisma can be trained in an organizational context.

Genre

doctoral dissertations

Subjects--Topics

Organizational behavior
Management
Leadership

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Organizational Science

Advisor(s)

Banks, George

Committee Members

Blanchard, Anita
Gooty, Janaki
Bochantin, Jaime

Degree Note

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2020.

Rights Statement

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). For additional information, see http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/.

Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Ernst_uncc_0694D_12357

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2324