Charismatic leaders bad for business, says psychologist. (2015)

“The idea that leaders need to be some sort of charming rock star is a myth and one that is highly detrimental to the success of any organisation.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Professor of business psychology at University College London and Columbia University New York
Reported by Tao Lin in Stuff.co.nz (Fairfax New Zealand’s online edition), 24 Aug 2015

“To many, Apple founder Steve Jobs and the former heads of Air New Zealand Rob Fyfe (pictured leading the Haka) and GE Jack Welch represent the pinnacle of executive leadership. So is a dose of innate charisma and confidence essential to governance success?

“Chamorro-Premuzic … was in New Zealand to give a series of talks on good leadership.

“(He commented that)… the idea that leaders need to be some sort of charming rock star is a myth and one that is highly detrimental to the success of any organisation.

“… there are four general qualities that make for more effective leadership; the first is trustworthiness and having integrity, the second is good judgement, the third is having a vision, a compelling story that persuades a team to put aside their own selfish agendas and to work for the collective good.

“The fourth quality is self-awareness and it is a lack of this among some of today’s leaders, as well as young people, that (is an) “epidemic of overconfidence”.

“From his research, he has found a low correlation between confidence and competence.”

Access the article here: Charismatic leaders bad for business