OBAT WORK290 Part 4Sharing the Organizational Vision
In order to be charismatic in your leadership style, you need
to engage in the following behaviours:^104
1 .Project a powerful, confident, and dynamic pres-
ence.This has both verbal and nonverbal compo-
nents. Use a captivating and engaging tone of
voice. Convey confidence. Talk directly to people,
maintain direct eye contact, and hold your body
posture in a way that says you are sure of yourself.
Speak clearly, avoid stammering, and avoid sprin-
kling your sentences with noncontent phrases such
as “ahhh” and “you know.”
2.Articulate an overarching goal.You need to share a
vision for the future, develop an unconventional
way of achieving the vision, and have the ability to
communicate the vision to others.
The vision is a clear statement of where you
want to go and how you are going to get there.
You need to persuade others that the achievement
of this vision is in their self-interest.
You need to look for fresh and radically different
approaches to problems. The road to achieving your
vision should be seen as novel but also appropriate
to the context.
Charismatic individuals not only have a vision;
they are also able to get others to buy into it. The
real power of Martin Luther King Jr. was not that he
had a dream but that he could articulate it in terms
that made it accessible to millions.
3.Communicate high performance expectations and
confidence in others’ ability to meet these expecta-
tions.You need to demonstrate your confidence in
people by stating ambitious goals for them individu-
ally and as a group. You then convey absolute belief
that they will achieve their expectations.
4.Be sensitive to the needs of followers.Charismatic
leaders get to know their followers individually. You
need to understand their individual needs and
develop intensely personal relationships with each.
This is done by encouraging them to express their
points of view, being approachable, genuinely lis-
tening to and caring about their concerns, and ask-ing questions so that followers can learn what is
really important to them.Assessing Skills
After you’ve read this chapter, take the following Self-
Assessments on your enclosed CD-ROM:- How Good Am I at Personal Planning?
- What’s My Leadership Style?
- How Charismatic Am I?
- Do Others See Me as Trustworthy?
Practising Skills
You recently graduated from college with your degree in
business administration. You have spent the past two sum-
mers working at London Mutual Insurance (LMI), filling in as
an intern on a number of different jobs while employees
took their vacations. You have received and accepted an
offer to join LMI full time as supervisor of the policy-renewal
department.
LMI is a large insurance company. In the headquarters
office alone, where you will be working, there are more
than 1500 employees. The company believes strongly in
the personal development of its employees. This translates
into a philosophy, emanating from the top executive offices,
of trust and respect for all LMI employees. The company is
also regularly at the top of most lists of “best companies to
work for,” largely because of its progressive work/life pro-
grams and strong commitment to minimizing layoffs.
In your new job, you will direct the activities of 18 policy-
renewal clerks. Their jobs require little training and are
highly routine. A clerk’s responsibility is to ensure that
renewal notices are sent on current policies, to tabulate any
changes in premiums, to advise the sales division if a policy
is to be cancelled as a result of nonresponse to renewal
notices, and to answer questions and solve problems
related to renewals.
The people in your work group range in age from 19 to
62, with a median age of 25. For the most part, they arePractising to Be Charismatic
From Concepts
to Skills