Theories in Action #2

Another theory that is particularly relevant to the leadership at SagePoint is the theory of charismatic leadership. Based on the definition of a charismatic leader, I would consider all of the leaders in the office this summer to be very charismatic. According to Max Weber’s theory of charismatic leaders, some main qualities of the leader are confidence, good communication skills, and high energy. This can be seen in the leadership at SagePoint as they communicate effectively yet seemingly effortlessly. Whether it is when holding group meetings or one on one meetings with each other, good communication seems to be a highly respected skill set at SagePoint. Additionally, the leaders are all very confident in stating their views and in giving advice to their followers. It is clear how effective this confidence is as it inspires and motivates the followers to do their best for their leaders.

Weber also describes some main qualities of a charismatic leader’s followers as being confident in the leader and their vision, emotionally responsive to the leader, and dedicated to the leader. This is a very accurate description of the followers at SagePoint. Their strong and meaningful relationships with their leaders depict a high level of emotional responsiveness. Additionally, I believe the confidence of the leader rubs off on the followers making them very confident in both the leader and in themselves. For example, when a follower comes to a leader for help or for advice with a project, I have noticed that they always trust what the leader tells them and have confidence in the leader that they both want and will do what is best for their followers.

Finally, charismatic leadership theories point out that the #1 characteristic of charismatic leaders is persuasion. This makes sense for this type of work because financial advisors already have to, in a way, “persuade” clients to trust them with managing their money. Therefore, they are already skilled at this tactic and can bring it to the workforce where they interact with their followers. I also think persuasion goes hand-in-hand with the relationship-oriented leadership style because those that are skilled in building relationships generally have very good people skills and are good at relationship-focused aspects of communication such as persuasion.