Charisma and organizational change: A multilevel study of perceived charisma, commitment to change, and team performance

Article history: Received 6 January 2012 Revised 21 January 2013 Accepted 1 February 2013 Available online 27 February 2013 Whatmakes people perceive a leader as charismatic, andhowdo team leaders obtain performance outcomes from their followers? We examine leaders in times of organizational change and investigate the mechanisms through which leaders' change-promoting behaviors are associated with teamperformance. In amultilevelmediationmodel,we propose that the indirect relationship between change-promoting behaviors and team performance is sequentially transmitted through followers' perceptions of charisma and followers' commitment to change. A study of 33 leaders and 142 followers provides empirical support for the model, using multilevel structural equation modeling to analyze top-down relationships between leaders and followers and bottom-up relationships between followers and team outcomes. Results suggest that team leaders are perceived asmore charismaticwhen theyengage in change-promoting behaviors. These behaviors facilitate teamperformance through individual followers' perceived charisma and commitment to change. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.