What are some differences between charismatic and transformational leadership?

Student answers may vary. Transformational leaders probably do more things that will empower followers and make them less dependent on the leader, such as developing follower skills and self-confidence, delegating significant authority to individuals or teams, providing direct access to sensitive information, eliminating unnecessary controls, and building a strong culture to support empowerment. Charismatic leaders probably do more things that foster an image of extraordinary competence for the leader and increase subordinate dependence, such as impression management, information restriction, unconventional behavior, and personal risk taking. Another likely difference between transformational and charismatic leadership involves how often each type of leadership occurs and the facilitating conditions for it. According to Bass, transformational leaders can be found in any organization at any level, and this type of leadership is universally relevant for all types of situations. In contrast, truly charismatic leaders are rare, and their emergence appears to be more dependent on unusual conditions. They are most likely to be visionary entrepreneurs who establish a new organization, or reformers who emerge in an established organization when formal authority has failed to deal with a severe crisis and traditional values and beliefs are questioned. Another difference involves the way people react to the leaders. The reactions to charismatics are usually more extreme and diverse than reactions to transformational leaders. The affective reaction aroused by charismatics often polarizes people into opposing camps of loyal supporters and hostile opponents. Transformational leaders get a less intense reaction from followers and are unlikely to have this polarizing effect. They are viewed as competent and professional but are not usually considered exciting and exceptional.