How Values Backfire: Leadership, Attribution, and Disenchantment in a Value-Driven Organization

Working papers are in draft form. This working paper is distributed for purposes of comment and discussion only. It may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder. Copies of working papers are available from the author. Existing theory maintains that charismatic leaders promote employee effort and organizational performance by emphasizing communal values. Previous and new evidence that the desired outcomes are not consistently achieved by this approach suggests a need for attention to unintended negative consequences of emphasizing charismatic leadership and communal values in organizations. This paper proposes a process model to explain how charismatic leadership and values can inadvertently give rise to employee disenchantment. The model, grounded in qualitative data from a longitudinal study of a small advertising firm, is intended to spur new theory and research in this neglected area. We explore how employee sensemaking triggered by shared values can give rise to attributions of leader hypocrisy and then disenchantment through a negative process we call the hypocrisy attribution dynamic. We suggest that value clarity, persuasive sense giving, and psychological safety can mitigate the hypocrisy attribution dynamic, increasing the chances of positive rather than negative sensemaking about leaders' behavior. Leadership that emphasizes communal values has long been recognized as a powerful are prescriptive beliefs about ideal modes of behavior that emphasize the welfare and needs of others 1994). According to a survey by the American Management Association (2002), such values are widespread; 59% and 32% of participating organizations reported respect and empowerment, respectively, as a core value. When leaders promote communal values, employees may react with motivation and effort, supplementing natural self-interest with desire to contribute to compelling shared