The Emergence of Charismatic Business Leadership is an examination of how the role of the business leader in the U.S. has changed from World War II to the present. A small number of high-profile individuals have transformed the face of modern-day leadership, making charisma essential to the task. How and why did this transformation take place? What does it mean for the future?
In order to answer these and other questions about the increased importance of charisma, we must look at leaders such as Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, and Elon Musk. Today, Jobs is considered the model of the modern charismatic business leader. It is inconceivable that he would have been the CEO of a major company in 1955, the year he was born. Though all three of these pioneers were once outsiders, they each found success by innovating their management style and using their charisma to champion their clear and ambitious visions.
Through an in-depth account of transformational figures in modern business history, this book demonstrates how charismatic leadership enables the creation of revolutionary new products—the electric car, the smart phone—and makes it possible for members of groups formerly considered “outsiders” to attain power and influence. The book also analyzes the careers of people who used their charisma to deceive, such as Jeff Skilling of Enron and Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos.
Charismatic individuals can lead, but they can also mislead. By looking at historical examples, this book is both inspirational and cautionary.
