As we reflect on the topic of leadership we have wrestled with a few theories these past few weeks. Our readings seem to place some of these theories into categories or boxes to help us better understand which side that they reside. However, is it that simple to categorize these theories as if they are an either/or? Many of these theories seem to put leaders on an either or side of the equation and try to simply describe them within some sort of box but leadership does not seem to be this simple. This might explain why there are over 500+ definitions of what leadership is. If leadership was simple we wouldn't have so many disagreements on what it actually is nor would there be so many books created on this topic coming from all sorts of perspectives. One example of this is when I first started down the path of understanding leadership I was told that leaders have charisma. Therefore you are not a leader unless you have charisma. However, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic takes a look at some of the negative characteristics of this charisma inThe Dark Side of Charisma. As with any of the traits and behaviors in leadership theory there are good and bad aspects to taking on a specific approach. If you decided to be more charismatic in your leadership you may have to consider the negative characteristics to adding it to your leadership approach as the article identifies.

Based on this, what would you do to avoid these negative characteristics if charisma was in your leadership approach? How about other leadership characteristics? Can you name one, that you may practice, where the negative characteristics may need to be considered as you continue your leadership journey? Let's explore the negative aspects of leadership so we can consider how we may avoid them.

References

Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2012).The Dark Side of Charisma[Online]. Available:https://hbr.org/2012/11/the-dark-side-of-charisma

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Avoiding the negative characteristics associated with charisma in leadership requires a conscious effort to balance the positive aspects of charisma w... View the full answer