| Some researchers have claimed that charisma has been a factor in the leadership styles of the 20th century's most successful leaders; but there is a paucity of empirical evidence to substantiate this claim. The purpose of this research was to explore whether some of the most prominent 20th century leaders displayed charismatic qualities. A purposive sample of six such leaders included Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, John F. Kennedy, and Lech Walesa -- all of them internationally recognized for service to society at large. The conceptual framework for the study was informed by the charismatic leadership theory. Qualitative/historical case study was the chosen mode of inquiry. The 6 biographies were subjected to content analysis based on a behavioral observation approach aided by an independent observer. The styles, works, and strategies of the leaders were compared with critical variables in the ideal type of charismatic leadership constructed by the author on the lines suggested by Max Weber as a heuristic device to compare the ideal with the real. The results indicate the following six charismatic attributes of the chosen leaders to have been particularly instrumental in generating their social change orientation and commitment of their followers: inspirational motivation, communication skills, emotional intelligence, empathy, modeling the way, and trustworthiness. Furthermore, Martin Luther King Jr. scored highest on all 10 ideal type characteristics and criteria, making him the most charismatic and socially oriented leader of the six. This research contributes to social change by informing a combination of selection criteria and professional development models; tools that can be used to recruit and shape future generations of leaders to serve as agents of change within an increasingly interconnected and dynamic global community. |
