personality traits such as commitment, responsibility, intelligence, discernment,
adaptability and interpersonal skills, decisiveness, joy in taking action, and cha-
risma can become a leader.
Interest in character’s role in leadership is as old as history itself; history has
always centered on prominent leaders, decision makers and rulers. Yet the difficulty
with applying leadership concepts to the realm of business is twofold. Firstly, one
and the same basic character trait can often go by different names according to
different people. Secondly, the evaluation of the characteristics of others is invari-
ably subjective. Therefore, reducing quality leadership to key characteristics is
often shortsighted and ultimately simplistic.
Time Magazine and CNN recently conducted an analysis of the world’s most
influential business leaders. Out of the top 25 managers, 11 are Americans and 4 are
women. Only 2 of the top 25 managers are from Germany: Wolfgang Bernhard
(Volkswagen, formerly DaimlerChrysler) and Gunter Thielen (Bertelsmann).
Both were included in the section “Profit Maximizers”; further sections included
“Innovators” and “Heavy Hitters.” All of the managers in the study have set
worldwide standards of leadership. The most influential manager was reported to
be Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman of the Board of General Electric (seewww.t-online-
business.de, December 14, 2004). The diversity of these leaders vividly illustrates
the fact that the possible character traits for top managers can be both arbitrary and
endless.
2.2.2 Charismatic Leadership
One trait that consistently appears throughout history concerning the personality of
leaders is charisma. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Max Weber’s
sociological work intensively focused on the phenomenon of charismatic leader-
ship. Weber differentiated between three types of leadership – rational, traditional,
and charismatic – which are also relevant to our search for the foundation of good
leadership.
The term “charisma” originates from Greek and means “gift of grace.”
According to Weber charisma is a sort of magic, superhuman and rare quality
that, when possessed by a leader, can radiate through an entire organization. Those
who study charismatic personalities have recognized that the employees of such
leaders become extremely loyal and find it difficult to part from their leaders.
As Weber describes, charismatic leaders must consider the long-term wellbeing
of those they lead, while at the same time creating a new order and orientation
within the arena they work in. In and of itself, charisma is not actually focused on
economic benefit (see Weber 1972, p. 140 ff.).
Anyone who has ever met a charismatic person has felt this energy, but it tends
to defy description. Nevertheless we will seek to more clearly define charisma:
58 2 Occupation or Calling: What Makes for Good Leadership?