Charismatic Leadership

A leadership theory that I found was relevant during my internship was charismatic leadership. The woman that was the head of my team, Nikki Parker, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, was one of the most charismatic leaders I have met. She had many of the qualities of a charismatic leader in that she is very emotionally expressive, very confident in her vision and encouraging of our team to be confident in the vision, she expresses a concern for everyone on the team and makes sure to create an inclusive environment, and she demonstrates a commitment to challenging yet highly desirable goals. Given these qualities, she was the face of many of the firms’ events and does a great job developing relationships with the portfolio companies Insight invests in to create a community environment. Because of this, she has created and sustained a compelling identity as she has very strong self-presentation skills. She was able to create conversations that felt very natural and informal while maintaining an appropriate professional feel. This is very important as most people find it easier to connect to someone when it feels natural and does not feel too pressured to have the conversation be extremely professional. One thing I have learned just from being in the professional world is that people connect to the true you and is important to show that while still being professional.

One of the qualities of a charismatic leader is that they have profound effects on people and this is something that Nikki absolutely did. Every team meeting, she guided the conversation to talk about fun personal things but also made sure to get down to business and make sure we stay focused on our goals. This combines charismatic leadership and the grid theory, which highlights the importance of both task and relationship-oriented leadership. Because of this combination, she was very good at making every team member feel valued while also guiding the team to believe in our goals and to work hard. Having a boss that is a charismatic leader made it a lot easier as a new employee to integrate into the team and feel not only comfortable but also valued.