Visionary Leadership versus Charismatic Leadership
Leaders are those people who seek to inspire others to follow them. They develop traits that persuade their team to do things the way they say. According to Stoner, visionary leaders impact their followers by means of drawing in their minds a picture of problem solution (Stoner, 2012). What concerns charismatic leaders, they offer the vision of solution in a way that people would want to accept. Visionary leadership is most evident in presidential campaigns where candidates influence people who eventually trust them and vote for them. Charismatic leaders, however, gain their recognition due to their personalities and traits.
In most cases, they possess a charming personality and know how to make individuals like them. Owing to their charisma, true leaders can control people and encourage them to carry out the plan so as to retain the imagined affection (Nayab, 2011). The charisma can be attributed to the natural trait of the leaders’ behavior or also to a skill that the leaders cultivate in order to carefully treat the individuals that they lead. Such people have their personal approach to leadership that entails special popular loyalty. A charismatic leader’s strength is the ability to sell his products or himself to the people. Teams are willing to be led by way of charm instead of external authority. The leaders meet organizational goals by encouraging devotion and gaining people’s trust by means of sacrificing and taking personal risks for what they believe in.
The primary difference between the two leadership styles is the grounds which make people follow the leader. As clearly put by Turner, the personality or the future that the leaders are trying to sell, and the hugest problem that they always face is the issue of implementation of their vision. It is important that a leader is able to sell what they envision, and influence people to accept that it is a realistic goal (Turner, 2013). They focus on goals rather than problems and cultivate a win/win scenario rather than an argumentative win/lose approach (Turner, 2013). Visionary leadership includes spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical dimensions for success.
Mohammed Ali Jinnah is the best example of a charismatic visionary leader (Patrick, n.d.)). His charisma and vision were able to rally the Muslims of India to claim for independence, leading to the emergence of Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Style, Maids, and Brownies). His hard work and dedication attracted many admirers who gave him the title “Quaid-e-Azam”, which means “Great Leader”. Mohammed Ali Jinnah pursued a course in law in England which he completed in the year 1896. Then he moved back to Mumbai, India in the year 1925 to practice law. He developed the interest in politics and became the first Indian to win the first seat in the House of Commons (McDunnigan, 2011). The man believed the best way to preserve the Hindu-Muslim Unity was by gaining an independent state of Pakistan, which emerged in the year 1947. He also became the first governor general of Pakistan. Just before his death Mohammed Ali Jinnah became the first sworn president of Pakistan Constituent Assembly (Style, Maids, and Brownies).
It is undeniable that the most effective form of leadership would be the combination of charismatic and visionary leadership traits. Individuals like Mohammed Jinnah can sell their vision to other people and offer the best solution to a problem. Takala says that leaders can be admired or hated, but by combining the vision and charismatic traits, the leader is able to stimulate people to follow their vision (Takala, 2007).
Works Cited
McDunnigan, Micah . “Differences Between Visionary & Charismatic Leaders.” EHow. Demand Media, 2 Sept. 2011. Web. 25 May. 2015.
Patrick, Monica. “Characteristics of Visionary Leadership.” Chron. Web. 25 May. 2015.
Nayab, N. “Modern Leadership Styles in the Changing World: Charismatic, Transformational, and Visionary Leadership.” Bright Hub, 20 May. 2011. Web. 25 May. 2015.
Stoner, Jesse Lyn. “Charismatic Leaders vs Visionary Leaders: 7 Indicators.” Seapoint Center for Collaborative Leadership, 3 Apr. 2012. Web 25 May. 2015.
Style, Maids, and Brownies. Visionary Leadership Compared to Charismatic Leadership. Word Press. 2014. Web. 25 May. 2015.
Takala, Tuomo. “Charismatic Leadership and Ethics from Gender Perspective.” Business and Organization Ethics Network, 12 Nov. 2007. Web 25 May. 2015.
Turner, Travis N. “Qualities of Visionary Leaders.” Creative Leader, 1 Aug. 2013. Web. 25 May. 2015