Charismatic leadership: a group-analytic perspective

Abstract

This article investigates the concepts of charisma and charismatic leadership in psychotherapeutic, religious and political settings. The author explores the associations of charisma with power and emotional arousal and differentiates between charismatic leadership exercised with benign and harmful intent. Personal narratives of charismatic figures are drawn on to illustrate the psychological underpinnings of charisma as well as the social climate in which charismatic leadership flourishes. The author argues that charismatic leaders make use of techniques such as dramatization, paradox and the simultaneous instillation of hope and fear in order to foster bonds of dependence. The therapeutic and counter-therapeutic implications of these techniques are examined.