A meta-analysis to review organizational outcomes related to charismatic leadership

This study applied meta-analysis to assess the relationship between charismatic leadership style and leadership effectiveness, subordinate performance, subordinate satisfaction, subordinate effort, and subordinate commitment. Results indicate that the relationship between leader charisma and leader effectiveness is much weaker than reported in the published literature when leader effectiveness is measured at the individual level of analysis and when common method variance is controlled. Results also indicate a smaller relationship between charismatic leadership and subordinate performance when subordinate performance is measured at the individual level (r = 0.31) than when it is measured at the group level (r = 0.49 and robust across studies). These results suggest that charismatic leadership is more effective at increasing group performance than at increasing individual performance. Other moderators tested did not account for a significant portion of variance in the observed distribution of correlations, suggesting a need for further research into other potential moderators. Meta-analysis examining the effects of charismatic leadership on subordinate effort and job satisfaction revealed lower correlations when multiple methods of measurement were used, with little convergence toward stable population estimates.