Presidential Charismatic Leadership: Exploring the Rhetoric of Social Change
Document Type
Article
Department
Behavioral and Organizational Sciences (CGU)
Publication Date
2008
Disciplines
Organization Development | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social Psychology
Abstract
Fiol, Harris and House [(1999). Charismatic leadership: Strategies for effecting social change. Leadership Quarterly, 10, 449–482] provide support for the theory that charismatic leaders introduce social change by employing communication targeted at changing followers' values in a temporal sequence: frame-breaking (phase 1), frame-moving (phase 2), and frame-realigning (phase 3). Using computerized content analysis, the current study extended these findings by testing additional communication tactics in temporal sequence on a larger sample of US presidential speeches with an expanded presidential charisma measure. Compared to non-charismatic leaders, charismatic leaders emphasized their similarity to followers in phase 1 and used negation in phase 2. Both leadership types used increasingly active and tangible language as they moved from phase 1 to 2 to 3. Across phases, charismatic leaders communicated with imagery and stressed inclusion, while referring less to conceptual thoughts and inspiration. A theoretical model of social identity framing is introduced to provide additional insight into how leaders communicate for social change.
Rights Information
© 2008 Elsevier Inc
DOI
10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.12.005
Recommended Citation
Viviane Seyranian, Michelle C. Bligh, Presidential charismatic leadership: Exploring the rhetoric of social change, The Leadership Quarterly, Volume 19, Issue 1, February 2008, Pages 54-76, ISSN 1048-9843, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.12.005. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1048984307001506)
