1
Essential Attributes of the Concept of Charisma

• by George P. Boss
• Presented by Chen-Yung Hsu

2
What is Charisma?

• A term which in popular usage describes the
  personal appeal of an extraordinary individual
• Derived from a Greek word meaning divine gift
• Used generally to symbolize the inexplicable
  force of such a personality

3
Why is identifying Charisma so hard?

• The essential attributes of the concept of
  charisma have not been identified in a systematic
  way
• The use of the term is often extremely ambiguous

4
Objective

• Examine the concept of charisma and to suggest
  that it can and should be used to designate
  attributes of importance in rhetorical study

5
3 Major Dimensions

• Analysis of charisma yields
• 1) qualities (or traits) residing in the person
• 2) the perceived effect on the listener-followers
  
• 3) the necessities residing within the particular
  sociopolitical situation

6
Charisma Phenom Attributes

• From rhetorical and sociopolitical perspective
• 1) gift of grace
• 2) concept of the leader-communicator
• 3) inspiring message
• 4) idolatrous follower
• 5) shared history
• 6) high status
• 7) concept of mission
• 8) an important crisis
• 9) successful (i.e., positive) results

7

• No attribute can be presumed to exist in the
  charismatic situation
• Each attribute is a constituent part of a whole

8
Gift of Grace

• Denotative base of the concept charisma
• Wider than concepts of good will or
  trustworthiness, partakes of credibility
• Originated from Judeo-Christian tradition,
  endowments of charismata were conferred by the
  Holy Spirit
• One man, through the Spirit, has the gift of
  wise speech, while another, by the power of the
  same Spirit, can put the deepest knowledge into
  words.

9

• From scholarly literature
• Max Weber The term of charisma will here be
  applied to a certain quality of the individual
  personality by virtue of which he is set apart
  from ordinary men and treated as endowed with
  supernatural, superhuman, or at least
  specifically exceptional powers and qualities.

10
Leader-Communicator

• Charismatic person not just a knowledgeable
  speaker, he is a leader whose audience is
  composed of followers
• Charismatic leader seems messianic in his appeal,
  expected to bring his people to the promised
  land of their needs and aspirations

11

• http//www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadre
  am.htm
• No historian, in reconstructing past eras, can
  ignore the spoken communications of these
  exceptional leader-communicators and the impact
  of those communications on national affairs not
  if he seeks a thorough understanding of the times
  in which the leaders lived and moved

12
An Inspiring Message

• Message of the charismatic leader will contain
  what are seen as compelling verbal and non verbal
  components.
• Arousing language often generates and ferments
  situations perceived as socially and politically
  significant
• Charisma lies not only in symbolic actions but in
  verbal propagation of the leaders ideas

13
Idolatrous Followers

• Critical attribute of charisma, these individuals
  are faithful listeners, responders, and doers
• Example from the Matrix

14
A Shared History

• Association of leader with follower is more
  intimate than average speaker with general
  audience
• Must have sense of community
• Willner and Willner charismatic leader must
  draw upon and manipulate the body of myth in a
  given culture and the actions and values
  associated with those myths

15
High Status

• After occupying a seat in an office with the
  followers approval, a leader gains exaltation
  by his ascension

16
The Mission

• Sustains the charismatic, follower-leader
  relationship is a sense of mutual mission
• Mission usually a sociopolitical predicament
  that cries out for urgent resolution

17
An Important Crisis and Successful Results

• Environments usually had significant crises
• Little likelihood of leader retaining charismatic
  aura
• Success partly dependent on how effectively a
  leader uses power to defeat enemies and help
  adherents

18
Conclusion

• Talcott Parsons
• Charisma is not a metaphysical entity, but a
  strictly observable quality of men and things in
  relation to human acts and attitudes

19
Yoda teaching Luke
Morpheus teaching Neo